


The Family of Ember Fall

by Vengfulfate



Category: RWBY
Genre: Mama Cinder AU, Real World Setting, Their cannon personalities do influence them, but I really try not to make it too blatent, certain characters OOC, except taiyang for reasons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2020-06-27 16:06:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 53,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19794325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vengfulfate/pseuds/Vengfulfate
Summary: Inspired by various 'Mama Cinder AU' artworks, comics, and stories.Cinder Fall, Crime Lord of Vale, finds a five-year-old child dying in the snow.Twelve years later Yang Xiao Long moves to Vale, finally escaping a drama that centered on the loss of her sister, Ruby Rose. At Beacon High, Yang has a chance encounter with Ember Fall, a strange woman with a frightening likeness to people long dead. They form an uneasy friendship as Ember seems to have a fondness for keeping secrets.All the while, trouble brews within Cinder's organization.Can everyone get what they want without getting hurt, or worse, hurting each other?





	1. Fate's Guiding Hand

**Author's Note:**

> A number of people have taken jabs at 'Mama Cinder' AUs, and I've always kinda wanted to throw my hat in the ring. Though, if I had to pick one story as the inspiration of this specific idea, it would be Fallen_Shadow69's 'Everything Put Together Falls Apart'.  
> .  
> This is my first major work since the start of my self-proclaimed 'writing rehab'. I am not finished writing this story yet, but the first five chapters are all ready. I have not decided on an upload schedule, I may upload once every few days or once a week. Once a week is my hard cap, as long as I have a chapter ready you won't have to wait longer than that.  
> .  
> If you enjoy what you read, please let me know! Kudos and comments are always appreciated, and is the best way to support me if you want to see more!

A gunshot echoed through the northern forest. Blood stained the snow, and Cinder Fall sighed. Contrary to popular belief, the ashen-haired woman didn’t enjoy this dirty work. But she knew it had to be done, and sometimes people needed to be reminded why _she_ was the boss.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Emerald Sustrai, one of her most loyal associates, argued.

“Do you want to join them?” Cinder warned her subordinate, cold amber eyes challenging the green-haired, dark-skinned woman. Emerald stepped in to take care of the bodies, but Cinder’s hand stopped her. “Leave them to be found. A message buried is a message unread.”

Emerald nodded, not needing to ask what the message was. ‘We own Vale.’

The pair went their separate ways. Getting into their separate vehicles and leaving in separate directions. Cinder once again sighed behind the wheel of her black luxury sedan. It had been a rough few weeks. Some up and comers thought they could break Vale’s rules, and when confronted they lashed at Cinder’s organization instead of falling in line. After a bloody few weeks, peace would finally be restored. Two of the three ringleaders in question were now cooling off in the snow, and the third would learn their fate before too long. He would be a fool not to listen after that.

Cinder’s car wound through the forest road, her headlights desperately fighting the darkness cast by the nighttime canopy. It was only thanks to the fact that the sedan was worth the money Cinder spent on it that she managed to avoid running over a man who had stumbled into the road. The car _screeched_ to a halt and the man fell back. Cinder quickly jumped out of the car to check and was relieved to see she didn’t actually hit the man.

The man in question was about her own age, blond, and drunk off his ass by the smell of his breath. There was another smell there too, one Cinder picked up as she helped the man to his feet. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine!” He shouted, pushing her away. “Better now… better than ever…”

Cinder watched the man stumble into the darkness once more. A flash of silver on his belt caught her eye, and she identified the mysterious second scent. Gunpowder. “Better now, you say…” Cinder murmured to herself as she opened her car door to leave. “Guess I’m not the only one who likes a cold forest to get rid of problems…”

She was about to step into her vehicle but hesitated. She felt a pull toward where the man had initially stumbled onto the road. She sighed one more time and closed her car door. She had bodies less than a mile away. Whatever that man had done, she probably didn’t want it to be associated with her. That’s what she had told herself, anyway. She followed the pull of fate into the forest with a flashlight and a keen eye against the ground.

It wouldn’t be her eye, but her ear that alerted her. A whimpering breaking the dead silence of the dark woods. What she finally found made her heart drop. The dark-haired girl couldn’t have been older than four or five years old. She was breathing slow, shivering breaths and blood seeped from the right side of her head. Cinder acted quickly, throwing her coat off and wrapping it around the little girl. She pulled one of the sleeved up to tie around her head, putting pressure on the wound.

The girl winced, unfocused, tear-stained silver eyes opening briefly. “Don’t… daddy, don’t… I’m… sorry…”

Cinder felt a fury rise within her. She was reminded of her own less-than-stellar childhood. Abusive authority figures were a thing she was intimately familiar with and had shaped much of her life. That man was lucky he had already vanished into the night. Cinder found herself wishing she had stomped on the gas rather than the break.

_None of that now,_ Cinder refocused herself. She picked up the bleeding bundle and bolted back to her car. _Any cop about to see my driving_ better _recognize my car. I don’t have time to be nice to good Samaritans._

* * *

Cinder paced the waiting room, hoping for word on her young discovery. Finally, the doctor she left the child with stepped into the room looking for her. “How is she?” Cinder immediately demanded.

“She’s stable and resting,” the doctor assured her. “She’ll live, Ms. Fall.”

“Take me to her,” Cinder snapped, and the doctor quickly obliged. They were soon standing outside the girl’s room, looking at her through the viewing glass. “What exactly is her damage?”

“The gunshot grazed her skull with only a slight fracture,” the doctor explained. “There is no obvious physical damage to her brain, but with someone so young there’s bound to be something. Her brain would have rocked around her skull, causing any kinds of bruising or chemical shifts to any area, even away from the actual bullet damage. Personality shift and mood swings, loss of motor function… anything, and nothing we can detect until she wakes up.”

“If there is something like a personality shift, we wouldn’t even know,” Cinder realized, “I have no idea who she was before the bullet.”

“There’s also other things we found…” the doctor continued, “her right humerus is snapped, and just below the fracture is another in the late stages of healing. We’ve also found currently broken and healing bones in her ribs, and early healing in her left radius.”

“I should have ran that fucker over…” Cinder growled.

“Ms. Fall?”

“Let me know the moment she wakes up,” Cinder ordered, “Tell me, and _only_ me.”

“Ms. Fall, that goes against-”

“Don’t tell me what it goes against, do as I _fucking_ say!” Cinder shouted, “Before _you_ need a doctor, doctor.”

The man nodded shakily, knowing this woman’s position and reputation only too well.

* * *

Less than twenty-four hours later Cinder was back in the hospital speaking to the doctor once again. “She’s awake?”

“Yes, and only you, I, and her nurse knows,” the doctor assured.

“Good,” Cinder stepped passed him and into the room. She laid her eyes on the young girl, who was playing with her fingers and waiting, not knowing what to do. “Hello, little one,” Cinder smiled, her entire demeanor shifting. This wasn’t someone to scare.

“H-hello…” the girl mumbled quietly.

“Do you recognize me?” Cinder asked, curious if the girl retained what she saw in the forest.

The girl was quiet for a long moment. “S-should I…?”

“Hey, there’s nothing to be scared of,” Cinder spoke softly and moved slowly to comfort the girl. She didn’t want to move to quickly. She knew all too well what that meant to an abused child. “I’m here to help, okay? Something very bad happened to you and I just want to know what you remember about last night?”

The girl cast her eyes down. “I don’t remember anything…”

“That’s okay, let’s start with what you do remember?” Cinder asked.

The girl was quiet once gain. “I… I don’t remember anything…”

Cinder was stunned. “Anything?” she asked. “Family?”

The girl shook her head.

“Friends?”

The girl shook her head again.

“…Your name…?”

The girl hesitated before slowly shaking her head one more time.

Cinder had nothing else to say, and slowly stepped out of the room. The doctor looked at her with a knowing eye. “She remembers _nothing_?” Cinder questioned.

“Nothing at all,” the doctor nodded, “The only thing the solicited a response was the photograph, and it wasn’t exactly a positive one.”

“What photograph?” Cinder squinted her eye.

The doctor fished the item out of his breast pocket. “Other than the clothes she was wearing, _this_ was all she had on her.”

Cinder took the picture. It showed the girl in the room, the man from the night before, and another child with blonde hair and lilac eyes.

“We can try and track down her family, but-”

“We are _not_ returning this girl to an abusive family,” Cinder finished the thought for him, whether it was indeed his thought or not. She stuffed the photograph into her pocket. “I’ll take her.”

“Ms. Fall?”

“I’m getting real sick of you questioning my every decision,” Cinder seethed. “The only thing on paperwork right now is she’s a Jane Doe brought in by a stranger, correct?”

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

“Then bring me whatever paperwork I need to fill out to formally adopt her. Without the attitude, please?” Cinder added, not really asking.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Cinder took a deep breath before re-entering the girl’s room. She didn’t want to bring that attitude in with her. The girl needed to be shown love, not anger. “Hey, little one,” she greeted with a smile.

“Hello,” the girl smiled slightly.

“How are you feeling?” Cinder asked softly.

“My head hurts… and I want go…” she stopped, realizing she didn’t know where ‘home’ was.

“We’ll go home soon, sweetheart,” Cinder promised.

“We?” the girl asked, looking up at her hopefully.

“Yes, we,” Cinder slowly shifted closer, trying her best to appear warm and inviting. “I’m your mother, after all.”

“My…?” the girl’s eyes went wide. “I… I don’t remember…”

“That’s fine, sweetheart…” Cinder finally held the girl close, kissing her forehead. “We’ll get through this. I’ll help you though this… Ember.”

“Ember?”

“Ember Fall,” Cinder nodded, “That’s your name.”

“Ms. Fall?” the doctor stood in the doorway with a set of pens and a clipboard of papers. “I have the…”

A sharp look from Cinder told him to be careful with his words.

“…discharge paperwork here.”

Her smile told the doctor he was successful. “I’ll be right there.”

“We’re… going home… mommy?” the girl, now christened ‘Ember’, asked slowly, getting used to the new information.

“Yes, dear,” Cinder smiled, “We’re going home.”

* * *

_ Two weeks later _

_The girl now known as Ember found herself running through a strangely familiar house. A dark shape chased her, a monster she couldn’t make out. She didn’t know who or why, but she knew she was frightened of it. She tried outrunning it, but it was faster than her. Her feet followed an unknown path up stairs and through a door, where a different figure waited. A shining golden shape that enveloped her and made her feel safe._ The light will keep me safe…

_But the light wasn’t strong enough. The shadow still came as it always did. There was a struggle, a sorrowful apology in the light’s form as the monster won and pulled Ember away. Fear and pain surrounded her once again. Even as she was pulled away, she knew it wasn’t the light’s fault. It just wasn’t strong enough. It and Ember were both trapped by the shadow._

With a start, Ember awoke. She was sitting in her bed, in her room, in her house. At least, she was told it was all hers. She couldn’t remember being here before, though it wasn’t like she could remember being anywhere else either. What she did know was that this room felt impersonal. There were no decorations, no character to the air, no worn books on the shelves. _Do I like books?_ Ember didn’t know.

She decided to leave the cold room with the ‘too fresh to be lived in’ feeling for the one place she _did_ trust. She found her mother’s room, and her mother sleeping peacefully in her bed. Ember slowly climbed in, trying not to disturb the woman.

“Ember, honey?” Cinder’s tired voice told her she was unsuccessful.

Ember looked over her mother. While not everything seemed to match up, she did trust Cinder. There was love in those amber eyes when she looked to Ember. Cinder being awake didn’t change the young girl’s plans. She burrowed into her apparent mother’s arms.

“The nightmare again?” Cinder asked. She felt Ember nod against her chest. “It’s just a dream, dear. Mommy’s here.”

Ember felt safe here in Cinder’s arms. It reminded her of the golden figure in her dream. Her mother gave off a similar, if slightly different feeling. A feeling of warmth, of protection. A feeling of love.

* * *

_ Twelve Years Later _

Ember was startled awake. She sat up slowly, slightly shaking and confused. _That nightmare again? I haven’t had it in almost eleven years…_ The now seventeen-year-old suddenly felt five again. She quickly decided to retreat to the same place she had when she was five. She stood up, not bothering to smooth her simple pajamas, and followed the scent of cooking food to the kitchen.

Cinder stood over the stove, frying eggs to be eaten alongside the already finished pancakes. She turned to see her daughter walking toward her and smiled. “Morning, honey. Are you excited for Junior year?”

Ember didn’t reply. She finished her walk to her mother and quickly embraced her, burrowing into Cinder’s arms.

Cinder’s surprise didn’t keep her from reciprocating. She held Ember close and patted the girls head. “Not that I’m complaining, but didn’t you tell me you were a little old for morning hugs? What’s this for?”

“I had the nightmare…” Ember told her quietly.

“You mean _the_ nightmare?” Cinder asked, knowing the girl stopped having it over a decade ago. She felt Ember nod against her chest. “Oh, honey…” Cinder tightened her grip, comforting the young woman.

They stayed like that for a few moments. Cinder didn’t dare let go even to turn the stove off, and let the eggs burn. “Sorry,” Ember quickly offered once she finally broke away.

Cinder turned off the fire and looked over the damage. “No need to apologize,” she assured, “I’ve been wanting to get a new pan anyway. Cookware isn’t that important.”

“I don’t know why,” Ember sat down at the table. “Why after this all this time? Why now?”

“Maybe it’s a sign,” Cinder suggested, “Maybe fate is trying to tell you something?”

“You know I don’t believe in fate, mom,” Ember gave her mother a teasing smile.

“Not as an indisputable future, no,” Cinder agreed, “But as a guiding hand?”

Ember shrugged.

“Well, it’s up to you how you chose to interpret it,” Cinder kissed her daughter’s forehead. “Are you feeling better?”

“I am,” Ember nodded, “I love you, mom.”

“I love you too, honey. Now get ready for school,” Cinder returned to the stove.

“Awww, do I have to!?” Ember complained.

“Yes. Only seniors can catch senioritis,” Cinder teased.

“…So if I _were_ a senior…?”

“Even if you were a senior, you can’t skip the _first_ day,” Cinder insisted in her ‘mother voice’.

“ _Fiine_ ,” Ember dramatically conceded and went back to her room to get ready for her day.

She stepped into her bedroom and gave the room a once over with her eyes. It was a far cry from the cold, impersonal room from her first few weeks in this home. Splashes of black and red covered her bedding and walls. Books line the shelves, though her video game cases far outweighed them. There were no band posters on the wall, because Ember listened to way too much music and there wasn’t enough room to cram all her favorite bands on the walls. Instead, dark toned and gothic art hung there instead.

Ember’s eyes finally leveled with the full-length mirror next to her closet, allowing the girl to examine herself. Her eye was immediately drawn to her right temple, where her bedhead allowed a glimpse at something she generally hid. She pulled back her hair and fully examined the scar there, the wound that stole her memory and did who knows what else. It had stretched and grown as she had in the past twelve years, looking much larger than what a bullet should really leave.

She grabbed her brush and began sweeping her hair to completely cover the scar. When she was younger, it had always led to strangers asking questions she wasn’t comfortable answering. Overly concerned elders, curious children, the occasional nosey individual at some age in between. It felt like every day someone was interrogating her. When her hair grew long enough to cover it, she did so with gusto hoping it was enough.

It wasn’t. People who knew her but never got the story never stopped asking. Strangers began to question what she was trying to hide. She remembered one older woman asked her ‘why would you hide your pretty face’. Admittedly that last one was likely good natured _and_ was paired with a complement, but it still highlighted the issue. A distraction was in order, Ember decided, and that was how she got her first piercing.

The glint of silver in her lower left lip worked better than she thought. People started to assume her hair was just part of her new ‘goth’ aesthetic, an aesthetic she wasn’t opposed to falling into anyways. Despite the complete success of the single lip ring, Ember got another a few weeks later. This one was on her lower _right_ lip to balance her first. She then reminded herself she was trying to get people to look away from the right side of her face, so her third piercing was in her left eyebrow.

She wasn’t sure when it all shifted from a practical decision into an obsession. Now, in addition to her original ‘snake bites’ and her brow piercing she had a second brow piercing right next to the first, a set of ‘spider bites’ in her upper left lip, a stud in her left nostril, two rings in her upper left ear and a piercing in each earlobe. She was hoping to finally get a tongue piercing for her eighteenth birthday.

Ember has had it all for so long now she slept with most of her jewelry still in. The two exceptions to that rule were one, a chain that went from her left earlobe and connected to one of the rings above it and two, a burning rose dangle earring. The burning rose was her favorite piece that took pride of place in her right lobe and was often covered by her hair along with her scar. Sure, it wasn’t on display like the rest of her silver, but it didn’t need to be. _That_ piece was for her and her alone.

“You better be getting dressed and not staring at your face-holes again,” her mother called out, steeping into the room to see Ember doing exactly that. She sighed, “That is _one_ addiction I don’t think I’ll ever understand.”

“Sorry,” Ember offered, finally opening her closet.

“If you don’t hurry, you’ll have to take your pancakes to go,” Cinder warned, “I want your car out of that driveway by seven-thirty, little flame.”

“Yes, mom,” Ember nodded, pulling out a pair of black jeans, a black tanktop, and a red lace shirt with long sleeves and frilled cuffs. “What do you think?”

“With your coat?” Cinder considered, “Simple, but standout. Well put together. Your boots may be too much, but the high tops may be too… little.”

“I’ll go with the boots. Thanks!” Ember smiled.

“I’ve got to get ready for my own day,” Cinder announced.

Ember waved her off and began to change. Once she was completely dressed out, she looked over herself in the mirror again. She was never one to truly be concerned about her appearance, but the sight still made her smile. Someone once told her she made all that darkness look bright. She wasn’t entirely sure it was a compliment, but she decided to take it as one nonetheless.

She opened a drawer that held her wallet as well as other essential day-to-day items. As she equipped herself with her daily gear, another item in the drawer caught her eye. A very old and worn photograph, quite possible the single most important thing she owned despite not having given it much thought for a few years now. _First the nightmare, now this? Maybe mom is right… maybe there’s something to this ‘fate as a guiding hand’ business,_ Ember thought to herself, dragging her fingers over the image of the blonde with lilac eyes, _but what does it mean?_

Halfway across the city, in a dorm provided by the high school as part of a special arrangement, a nineteen-year-old woman rose from her own nightmares to begin her first day of senior year in a new school. A woman with long blonde hair and glowing, if saddened, lilac eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you happen to know a certain other work of mine, you know I've used the name 'Ember' in a vaguely similar way as I have here. I did try to think of a different name, but honestly, 'Ember' as a name is fucking gold for both stories, and I feel is good in the different stories for different reasons to boot.


	2. The Story of Yang Xiao Long

_She was seven years old again, sitting on her father's couch with her knees pulled to her chest. Her father had left some time ago with her little sister in tow, disappearing into the blizzard. Things had been hard ever since her step-mother died. Hard for her father, hard for her, but her sister got the worst of it. Her father blamed her sister. Her sister was the primary subject of her father's rage._

_The door opened, and her father stumbled into the cabin, shutting the door loudly. He was alone._

" _Daddy?" she asked, "Daddy, where's Ruby?"_

" _Ruby won't bother us anymore, Yang," her father drunkenly slurred. She was terrified to know what that meant. Her father sat next to her on the couch, passing out the second his rear hit the cushions. She was uncomfortable being so close to him in this state and left for her own room. She spared a momentary glace to the door, hoping against hope that her sister would stumble inside in a few moments. She cried herself to sleep._

_The next morning she awoke to a rare occurrence. Her father wasn't immediately drunk. She could tell because the whiskey bottle hadn't moved from where he left it before dragging her sister out of the house. Her father wasn't one for letting a bottle of 'the good stuff' go to waste, so he wouldn't have opened another until this one was empty._

_He was sitting on the couch in the living room, staring at a photograph of her dead step-mother. Being her sister's_ real _mother, her sister had inherited the woman's dark red hair and silver eyes, and seeing the picture reminded her that her sister never returned. "Daddy?"_

_Her father tensed at hearing her voice. He turned slowly until she could see his eyes. His puffy, bloodshot eyes, staining his face with tears. "Yang…? Oh, hell… Yang…"_

" _D-daddy? Where's Ruby?" She asked again, hoping to get a real answer._

_Fresh drops fell from his eyes, his gaze cast to the ground. "I haven't been a very good father, have I Yang…? I was so angry after Summer died… and then the drink… Ruby was her last gift to me, I should have treated her like an angel… Instead I treated her like…"_

" _Daddy…?"_

_Lights distracted them. Red and blue flashes in the window. For a moment, she was scared. If he thought she called the police, he would hurt her again…_

_She wouldn't learn until later that her father called the police himself. "Yang, I want you to turn around."_

" _Daddy?"_

" _I want you to turn around," he sobbed, "And close your eyes… and don't open them until the police take you away."_

" _Take me away…?"_

" _Please, Yang, turn around!" her father shouted._

_She instantly complied, turning and squeezing her eyes shut. "W-what are y-you d-doing…?" she sobbed in turn._

" _Whatever it takes…" He answered cryptically. "I can't trust myself, you see?"_

_There was a knock at the door. "Patch PD, can someone come to the door? I got a strange call, can you let me in?"_

" _I have to do whatever it takes to keep you safe," her father continued._

" _Sir, I can see you through the window! Open the door!" the cop continued._

" _Safe from me…" there was a metal click._

" _Sir, what are you doing with that!? Put it down!" The cop began pounding and kicking the front door._

" _I love you, Yang."_

_She heard the front door give and fall against the ground. "Sir, stop!"_

_BANG_

Yang Xiao Long's eyes shot open with a scream. She was nineteen years old now, sitting up in an unfamiliar bed. The nightmare burned in her mind. A perfect recreation of the day her family drama – to put it kindly – came to a head. She kept her eyes shut, as her father asked. She was too afraid to see what had happened. She didn't open them until she was placed in the police cruiser.

It wouldn't take long for her seven-year-old self to have the full picture. She didn't know just what her sister, Ruby, did to set off their father, Taiyang, this time. Maybe she just breathed in his presence, that was all it took some days. That didn't matter. What mattered was the result of that night's rage. Taiyang finally followed through on something he threatened to do for years.

He dragged Ruby deep into the snowy woods and shot her.

Ruby's body was never found, but it didn't need to be. Even if she by some miracle survived the bullet, the five-year-old would have frozen to death before morning. When Taiyang had his moment of sobriety that morning, the realization of what he had done outweighed his need for continued inebriation. That weight, in fact, truly broke him.

Whether it was just sheer guilt, or whether he honestly thought it was the only way to protect his remaining daughter, Taiyang killed himself that morning. Yang was lucky she decided to keep her eyes shut. She didn't doubt having _that_ image would have lengthened her therapy indefinitely. She was committed to foster homes and halfway houses, never finding one family to stay with.

Last year she turned eighteen and put her senior year of high school on hold in order to finally leave Patch behind. A combination of her high grades and the sympathies of a board member who learned of her situation got her a place in a rather high-brow Beacon High School in nearby Vale. They even gave her a dorm room from the private housing complex across the street, provided she could keep her grades up. She would still need to find a job to eat, but a least rent wouldn't be a worry.

Yang had done a lot to escape her past. Despite her nightmares, she was a rather happy person. She had made peace with the tragedy, finished therapy, and was even cleared to stop medication. After a quick shower and some hot coffee, she _would_ be ready to take on the day. _My first day of senior year, in a new school, in a new city. I wonder if anything exciting is going to happen this year?_

* * *

Beacon High was not your average high school. You generally needed exceptional grades or an exceptional amount of money to gain a spot at the prestigious academy. The former was actually more common than the latter, which kept the school from becoming another haven for snobs. Still, Yang was one of the few students given a dorm on charity. Most of the dorm house's occupants paid extra – or rather, their parents did – to live and sleep across the street from campus.

As such, seeing expensive cars in the Beacon's parking lot was something Yang was already used to. The only reason _this_ car in particular caught her eye was because she was _certain_ it wasn't there the night before. She definitely would have noticed if it was. An all-black, two-door modern muscle car with no brand markings, limo tint windows ( _Aren't those illegal?_ ) and a hood vent along with various other, smaller body modifications. It sported a paint job that was red in the back and black in the front, with the transition in between made to look like 'tribal' roses with petals blowing off them.

Yang shook her head, wondering what jackass owned _that_ specific vehicle.

She finally stepped through the gate to Beacon High, to a sight she more or less expected. There were a bunch of little groups scattered across the campus, waiting for class to start with their cliques. She decided the best thing was probably to find her classroom and avoid cliques for now. _I can find new friends later._

As Yang walked down the hall distracted by counting classroom numbers, someone else was coming toward her distracted by a hole in her jacket. They collided shoulders, spinning around each other and racing to apologies.

"Oh I am so sor-"

"Summer?"

Yang lost, not because she was slow to apologize, but because the other girl's dark red hair and silver eyes were the spitting image of her long-dead step-mother.

"What about the summer?" The girl asked, clearly associating the word with the season.

Yang shook her head, realizing what she was thinking was impossible. Either of the people she was thinking of were long since dead… "Sorry… nothing. It's nothing."

Yang examined the girl in front of her. Her hair was swept entirely to the right side, nearly obscuring that side of her face. What she could see of her face had more holes than Yang had ever seen in her life. She counted the ten pieces of jewelry out in her head, noting that most of it existed on her left side. "I think I know which side of your face is your favorite…"

"You have lilac eyes," the girl pointed out, apparently missing Yang's blunt comment. "I've met very few people with lilac eyes…"

Yang was a little taken aback by the comment. "Yeah, well, I could say the same about _your_ silver."

The girl giggled and smiled. "My eyes or my metal?" she took the remark in stride.

Yang took a physical step back and looked over the strange girl. Her outfit followed a strange mixture of Victorian and modern gothic. Heavy knee-high boots, dark jeans, and a large, custom hooded coat, black with red under-lining. Under the coat was a lacy red shirt with a low V-neck. A black tanktop kept the lace and the low V from showing too much. The red shirt also had frilled cuffs that reached out from under the coat's own cuffs, reaching the girl's knuckles.

Knuckles that were attached to a hand Yang only _just_ realized was stretched out toward her. "Ember Fall," the girl introduced herself once Yang was finally paying attention, unconcerned with the blonde's visual pat-down.

"Yang Xiao Long," Yang returned the gesture, shaking Ember's hand. She was starting to feel underdressed in her own casual boots, blue jeans, and brown leather jacket.

The bell rang at that moment. "Oh shit! I still don't know where my first class is!" Yang realized.

Ember grabbed Yang's schedule out of her hand. "You're a senior? Neat!" Ember looked up from the schedule and pointed at a nearby door. "That's what you're lookin' for."

"Uh, thanks," Yang took back her schedule.

"Hope to see you 'round!" Ember waved her off cheerfully. As Yang retreated to her class, Ember continued watching after her, lost in thought.

* * *

Yang entered her class in a rush. Being nearly late meant all the seats were already taken, except for one near the back. _That's fine,_ Yang thought, _at least I'm not going to accidently sit somewhere that keeps a group of friends apart._ She sat down, her mind beginning to settle. As it calmed, it settled right onto that strange goth girl she ran into…

_She had silver eyes…_

Yang had only ever known two people in her entire life with silver eyes. And they were both dead.

_But are they?_

For the first time in twelve years, Yang entertained the thought. Even when she was young, she knew it just wasn't possible. But how many people in the _world_ had silver eyes?

Her train of thought was interrupted by the bell signaling the beginning of class. The history teacher appeared in the front of the room, as if out of this air, with papers tossed in the air to boot. He almost immediately began talking, his speech way too fast for the blonde to hope to keep up. She looked around the class to see if they were supposed to find a page in the book. Everyone's book was still closed. Her desk neighbor noticed her concern and chuckled lightly, "You're the new girl, right?"

"Um, yeah?" Yang responded.

"Don't worry. Today is just class intro stuff. By the time we actually start learning stuff, you'll have figured out how to keep up with him."

"Thanks," Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

She tried to catch up with the speed of the history teacher but found it pretty much impossible. Her mind inevitably began to wander. And, after their encounter in the hall, those thoughts inevitably began to float toward the silver eyed goth.

_What are the chances of there really being more silver eyed people in the world?_ Well, to be honest, Yang didn't actually know. But it certainly wasn't common, that much she _could_ tell. And even if there were silver-eyed people in this city, what were the odds of everything else matching up? Her hair color, her age… even her facial structure, while obviously not a five-year-old's, _did_ look hauntingly reminiscent of Summer Rose, Yang's stepmom and Ruby's biological mother…

_Her body was never found…_

What if Ruby _did_ survive? What if she found her way to Vale, only few miles to the south? What if she took the opportunity to get away from Dad, who she wouldn't have known died the next morning? What if, what if, what if… _What if the reason she stopped in the hall was because she remembered me!?_

_No, no… Stop it, Yang… I shouldn't get my hopes up…_

It was hard to temper her feelings, however. No matter how much logic she applied to dissuade herself, there was something odd about that girl. What if, what if, what if… _What if she is?_


	3. An Uneasy Friendship

After the first two classes, students were let out for a fifteen minute 'morning break'. Yang found herself wandering into the lunch hall. She was shopping to find some new friends. Or perhaps just one friend in particular. Before she could even begin searching, however, that person found her first. "There you are, Yang!"

Yang spun around to face the voice of the goth girl from this morning. "Oh, hey… Ember, right?"

"That's right," Ember smiled, "How are you settling in?"

"It's been less than a day," Yang pointed out, "I'm still 'settling in'."

Ember giggled and rubbed the back of her head. "Found your second classroom okay?"

"I did, know where the third one is too!" Yang proudly announced.

"Makin' any friends?" Ember continued to act as a one-woman welcoming committee.

"Not yet. Like I said, only been a few hours," Yang answered optimistically.

"Well, you've always got me," Ember smiled brightly.

Yang couldn't help but return the smile. Something about the goth's energy was infectious, not to mention it would be a lie to say Yang didn't have other motives. "You that desperate?" the blonde teased.

"Something like that…" Ember suddenly seemed uneasy.

The shift wasn't missed by Yang. "Alright, friend," she tried to reassure her, "where do you usually hang out?"

Ember smile did return, Yang's encouragement successful. "I usually wander," the goth answered.

"Then let's wander!" Yang insisted, "I want to know more than where my classes are. Show me the sights!"

Ember began showing Yang around the yard. There wasn't really much to see, but Yang could tell Ember was ecstatic nonetheless. "And over here is the music hall. You can go in during breaks, but no food allowed," Ember pointed to a nearby door.

"Music hall?" Yang was impressed, "Music programs are getting cut all over, aren't they? Even schools like this have been affected…"

"Yeah, ours was saved by-" Ember halted, seemingly thinking over her words, "generous donations."

"Nice," Yang smiled. Maybe it was time to find her old electric guitar. _If it's even still around, and not left behind with… everything else…_

"Hey, you okay?" Ember tugged at Yang's sleeve, "Your whole mood kinda… _ppptth_ … down the drainnn…"

"It's nothing," Yang forced a smile.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Ember shrugged, "But I won't push for _all_ your secrets. Hey, where's everybody going?"

"I think the bell just rang," Yang chuckled.

"Oh, shit," Ember wore a nervous smile, "Guess we'll pick this up later?"

"What else is there to see?" Yang asked.

"Not much…" Ember admitted.

"Hey," Yang bumped Ember's shoulder with her fist, "I'm not just here for the tour. We're friends now, right?"

Ember's smile grew, "Right! Of course!"

* * *

Another class goes by, and Yang stepped into her required math class for her fourth class of the day. She was surprised when she stepped in to see Ember helping another student at one of the desks.

"You forgot to carry, again. C'mon, man! This is algebra 2 and you messing up standard 1st grade stuff!" Ember pleaded with a scrawny, blond boy.

"I'm sorry…" the boy apologized, "My brain is just… somewhere else today."

"Where? Where's your head at, Jaune?" Ember asked politely.

"Nora finally convinced me to let her play… in five minutes she de-railed my entire campaign," Jaune complained, "I've spent the past _two days_ trying to write myself out of this hole to get back on track, but… Nora is seriously the kind of player all DMs fear."

"Ouch…" Ember winced.

"Yeah…"

"Well, you _gotta_ figure that out on your own time. Class time is for class," Ember reminded him.

"I know, I do," Jaune nodded, "And I better get to my next class."

"Chin up, Jaune!" Ember cheered the blond as he left. As she watched him go, her eyes found Yang. "Oh, hey you! Is this your class?"

"Uh, yeah. Is it yours?" Yang asked.

"I have two free periods, and I use them both to TA," Ember explained.

"Really?" Yang asked, "No art or music or anything?"

"Maybe next year," Ember shrugged. She looked to the front of the class before cupping one side of her mouth and whispering, "plus, it's _super_ easy to TA for Mr. Port."

"Because he's that good or that bad…?" Yang asked uneasily.

"He's not bad when he _actually_ teaches…" Ember shrugged, "But I think you're the only one who brought the book today. You'll be lucky to open it before Friday. I heard he had a busy summer."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Yang questioned.

The bell rang, and Ember smirked. "You'll see…"

A rather large-bellied man stepped in front of the class and looked over his students with glee. "Hello to another year, Seniors! Your last! There's a whole, wide world ahead of you, you wouldn't _believe_! Why, take _my_ summer for instance! The break started with…"

Mr. Port proceeded to tell a long and extravagant story that Yang was sure wasn't entirely true. Every pause for breath she hoped he would realize class had to start at _some_ point, but the only thing to interrupt him was the lunch bell." "Oh! I let that one get away from me, eh? Oh well, it's only the first day! No need to burden with homework anyway! Go enjoy your young lives!"

"Well… at least it was easy…" Yang closed her book, having indeed been the only person to even bring one.

"Told you~" Ember sang as she joined the blonde on the way out the door.

"What the hell were you even helping that Jaune kid with?" Yang asked.

"Oh, Ms. Goodwitch runs a much harsher math class," Ember explained, "And I helped him a lot last year. So, he ducked out of her class to get help from me again."

"He ditched class?" Yang asked.

"Better than failing under her eye, trust me," Ember assured her, "And I shot her a message. It's cool. Don't tell Jaune that."

Yang raised her hand, "scouts honor."

* * *

They reached the lunch hall and filed into line for the school-prepared lunches. "Oh, god, I don't even remember if I ever had cash in my account…" Ember searched her pockets for money. She pulled out a few bills, but kept putting them away. Yang couldn't tell what the bills were worth.

"Do you not usually eat the school lunches?" Yang asked.

"No, I usually have lunch from home, but-"

"Ember!" one of the kitchen workers called out, "Forget something?" They were holding a Tupperware container of delicious looking breakfast lasagna. "Your mom dropped it off about a half-hour ago."

"Oh my god she is the _best_!" Ember hopped with joy, "Thank you!"

Yang smiled watching Ember leave the line, but there was a hint of sadness in there too. _For a moment, I actually let myself believe… but she has a family. A mother. She's not_ her _, Yang. Ruby's dead._

Something else happened as Yang watched Ember leave the line. The goth girl was called out by the 'pretty and popular' clique, but not quite in the way Yang would expect.

"Hey! Em! Come sit with us today!" A purple-haired girl called her out.

"Sorry, Nebula, already got a lunch date," Ember replied.

"Aww, c'mon! We're fishing for info on the new girl, Yin?" Nebula pleaded.

Ember giggled, "Usually your Gossip Club is great for info, but you don't even have _Yang's_ name right."

"…Shit, really?" one of the other girls responded.

"Seriously, girls, sometimes the best way to learn about someone is to talk to them. Speaking of which, I gotta find some free seats. Sorry," Ember waved at them as she stepped away.

Yang's discard of her thoughts on Ember's identity allowed another kind of thought to seep in now. She had questions for the goth. Questions she raised when she finally had her food and was sitting in her seat across form the goth. "I saw you chattin' with petty pretties over there."

"Hey, don't be rude," Ember defended, "They just like to gossip. If it makes you feel any better, everyone takes what they say with a grain of salt. They don't exactly affect reputations like they _think_ they do."

"It's just weird," Yang shook her head.

"What is?"

"This morning…" Yang struggled with how to say things politely, "well… In my experience… Girls like them don't often talk to girls like you. This morning you sounded pretty desperate to be my friend. But between Jaune and Nebula… you actually seem pretty popular around here."

Ember's mood fell slightly, her fork picking at her food. "Seems that way, huh?"

"What does that mean?" Yang cocked her head. That was not the direction she was expecting.

Ember smirked. "You think I'm gunna spill dirty secrets with the Gossip Club in earshot?" she dodged the question.

The dodge made Yang frown, but she let it slide. She had only known the girl a day, after all. Perhaps she was judging too harshly. "I guess that's fair."

"So… what brings you to Vale?" Ember attempted to move the conversation forward.

Yang considered being evasive in turn, but it was an innocent enough question. More innocent than the one she had just tried working toward. How could Ember anticipate how complicated that answer really was? "I just needed a change in scenery," was close enough to the truth.

" _You_ needed a change? Not your parents?" Ember picked up.

"I'm an independent," Yang nodded.

"Oh," Ember seemed thoughtful after that comment, before smiling, "Congratulations?"

Yang chuckled, "Thank you. What about you? Lived here all your life?"

"Long enough," Ember shrugged, being vague once again.

Yang frowned. She had to find a topic the goth girl might actually discuss. "What's your mom like?"

Ember smiled, "She's great. She's busy, but she always makes time for me, too. Like dinner. She tries to cook every night. She says it's to keep me healthy, but I know it also means she'll be home."

"What does she do?" Yang asked.

"She's a businesswoman," Ember answered quickly.

"Sounds responsible," Yang nodded, "don't ever take her for granted."

"Don't worry about that," Ember assured her, "I won't."

They kept up a bit of small talk, but eventually the lunch period had to end. Ember waved Yang off as they went their separate ways to get to their classes. Yang was feeling good about her new friend, despite the vague answers. _Maybe she just needs time to open up properly_.

Halfway to her next classroom, Yang spotted a boy with dark brown hair and a face like he was _born_ with an attitude problem. "You the new girl?" he called out to her.

"Uh, yeah? What's it to you?" Yang was defensive. Maybe this guy was just a jock, but he gave off that bully vibe as well.

"Calm your tits…" the boy sighed. "You've been hanging out with Ember Fall?"

"What about it?" Yang crossed her arms.

"Y'know, you don't have to be rude. I _am_ trying to help you," the boy insisted. "What do you know about her?"

"What is there _to_ know?" Yang raised her eyebrow.

The boy looked up and down the hallway, as if he was looking for people listening. "She's bad news," he warned, "her and her family are dangerous. Criminals. Be careful, or better yet be gone."

"Right. Thanks for the info," Yang responded sarcastically. This guy didn't exactly give off a trustworthy air. "I gotta get to class," she turned her back and walked away.

Despite writing the boy off, Yang couldn't get the thought out of the back of her head. She had been betrayed by people who were supposed to matter before. Her trust issues couldn't let her outright believe the man. But those same trust issues, as well as everything she had seen today, couldn't let the thought go.

* * *

Two more classes passed, and the final bell for the day rang. Ember stretched as she stood from her seat. Today had been a good day. As much as she was dreading returning to school, meeting Yang made it worth it. She was actually looking forward to the next school day, if it meant continuing to build that friendship.

As she made her way to the parking lot, she spotted the blonde in question. She ran to catch up with her and say hey one last time. "Yooooo!"

Yang turned to face Ember's voice. "Oh, hey again! You stalkin' me now?"

"Maybe," Ember teased, "Is that a problem?"

Yang hesitated to respond. "I had a weird conversation after lunch," she confessed.

"Um, okay," Ember cocked her eyebrow.

"Some guy tried to tell me your family were like, dangerous crooks, or something," Yang told her.

Ember's face fell. She was in thought for a long moment, before finally speaking, "This guy. Brown hair, muscular? Face that's somehow both handsome and _incredibly_ punchable?"

"Um, I guess?" Yang shrugged. _I did kinda want to punch him._

"That was probably Cardin Winchester," Ember informed Yang, rubbing her right temple. "His dad is a… business rival to my mom. He just doesn't like me."

"I know that he might just be a jerk, but…" Yang rubbed the back of her head, "I've only known you for about as long."

Ember put her hands in her pocket and looked at the ground. "You don't trust me?" she lamented.

"After running into me in the hall, you insist on becoming friends with me," Yang explained, "You're cheery, but dodgy. You make yourself sound lonely, but then your so called 'gossip club' talks to you like you're all friends. Now this Cardin kid tells me to be careful around you? So which is it? Are you popular or lonely? Do you want to be my friend, or are you just playing me?"

"Does it have to be one or the other?" Ember asked, "Popular or lonely?"

"Does it _not_ have to be?" Yang pressed.

Ember strode past Yang, turning back to lean against a nearby wall. "I don't _want_ to be popular, Yang. I don't want to be the 'bee's knees' or anything. I wanted a normal high school experience. With normal knees. But even before my freshman year started, people knew my name," Ember finally began to explain. "I had a reputation. Or, more like, my mom does. People were scared of me. They avoided me in the hall, they'd sweat if they were paired with me for a group project… I hated it."

Yang's expression softened. Liar or not, she couldn't imagine anyone being _scared_ of the Ember she'd talked with throughout the day.

"I don't _really_ care about being everyone's friend," Ember continued, "but I didn't want to be the girl who parted the halls by just being there, either. So, I made the effort to be friendly. I tried to show people they didn't have to be scared. And while nowadays people are pleasant with me at worst…" she sighed deeply, "I can't really know if they mean it. I was just hoping to be your friend for real, if only for a little while… before you learned to be scared of me too."

"You really think these people might not be friends 'for real'?" Yang asked genuinely, her voice more compassionate after Ember's story.

"Just look around," the goth answered, "They're more than happy to get help from me or have me sit at their tables for lunch. But the final bell rings, and they all avoid me again."

Ember did have a point. Yang looked around and saw, finally, people making an effort not to look the goth's way. Had it been like this all day, and Yang just wasn't looking for it? "I'm sorry."

Ember looked up, surprise in her eye. "For what?"

"That you have to go through that," Yang clarified. "It's not fair."

Ember chuckled darkly, "Life's not fair, Yang."

"Don't I know it…" Yang agreed, just as dark.

Ember's smile failed. "You okay?"

"There's a reason I moved to Vale alone," Yang confessed. "I know you opened up a lot just now, and I appreciate it, but… I don't think I'm quite ready to tell _my_ story. I'm sorry. But I _am_ okay, I promise," the blonde threw a smile onto the end of her statement.

Silence fell between them, a silence Ember was the first to break. "You ever been to a Dale and Jester's?"

The question surprised Yang. "Uh, no… No I haven't."

"I'm planning to hit the one in downtown Vale," Ember told her, "You wanna come with? Cheer you up a little?"

Yang smiled. "I think we can _both_ use some cheering up after that conversation," she agreed.

"Great!" Ember cheered calmly, "Let's go!"


	4. An Afternoon With Ember Fall

"So how are we getting to Dale and Jester's?" Yang asked, following Ember out of the front gate of the school, "I think all the buses took off already."

"Please," Ember pulled car keys out of her pocket, "I haven't ridden a bus since freshman year."

"Way to make a girl jealous!" Yang smiled, "I don't even know how to drive yet."

"Why not?" Ember asked.

"I didn't have the time," Yang avoided Ember's eyes. "So which one is yours?" she asked as they passed the obnoxious modern muscle car Yang first spotted that morning.

Ember smirked and hit the unlock button on her remote. The car between them beeped and unlocked.

"No way…" Yang looked between the car and Ember's smug face. "Never mind… of course it is…"

"What does that mean?" Ember chuckled.

"Nothing," Yang followed her into the car. The interior was about as sleek and clean as the exterior. The upholstery was black leather with a mesh so one didn't end up clinging to the seat, with an advanced stereo system that linked to Ember's Bluetooth the moment the engine turned. Said engine turned over with a mighty roar that was probably deafening from the outside, but surprisingly buffered by the car's interior soundproofing. Some punk rock band began to auto-play from her phone through the speakers. "This thing _has_ to cost a fortune. Is your family super rich or something?"

"I wouldn't say we're _rich_ ," Ember answered with a neutral shake of her hand.

Yang could hear the unspoken word ' _technically_ '. Yet another masterful dodge by Ember Fall. The blonde let it go. If today was any indication, the goth woman was only being careful, and Yang would get the truth when Ember was ready to tell it.

* * *

Someone from Yang's old school once told her the little handles in the roof inside the car were called 'oh-shit' handles. At the time Yang had laughed it off, it clearly being a little bit of a joke. But now? Yang felt the name was incredibly accurate. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the little bar, watching them pass another car like it was standing still.

"You okay?" Ember noticed Yang's unease.

Yang decided to be honest. "I know I don't have a driver's license or anything, but I'm pretty sure the speed limit on _any_ highway is only two digits!"

"Ooohh…" Ember finally slowed down, "Sorry. The only people to ever sit in that seat either drive like I do, or they've never said anything."

"Who's normally in this seat?" Yang asked.

"Mostly no one. Sometimes my mom." Ember answered.

"Your _mom_ doesn't mind you drive like that?" Yang was in disbelief.

"She drives like I do. Where do you think I get it from?" the goth smiled.

"Oh my god…" Yang let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, "How many times have you been pulled over?"

"Never," Ember answered honestly.

"How?"

"I mean, I've never hurt anyone," Ember defended.

"That's doesn't answer my question," Yang pointed out.

Ember shrugged, "Maybe I'm just lucky? I don't know what to tell you, Yang. But I promise I'll drive better, at least when you're in the car."

"Thanks…" Yang sighed.

They got off the highway at the next exit, coming out into Vale's downtown. Beacon was on the edge of the city, and back there it was easy to forget how large Vale really was. Parking in the shadows of skyscrapers was a quick reminder. Yang craned her neck trying to see the tops of the buildings.

"You look like a country bumkin, starin' at the skyscrapers like that," Ember snickered.

"Kinda. I grew up around Patch," Yang explained, "Less of a city and more of a collection of small towns less than a mile apart."

"That's up north, right?" Ember asked, intrigued. "Not _too_ far from Vale."

"It's not," Yang agreed.

"Snowy winters?" Ember questioned carefully.

"It makes the forests look beautiful…" Yang lamented, "It's about the only thing I'll miss."

Ember only nodded, not wanting to push somber thoughts. "Arcade's this way," she pointed down a nearby alleyway. Yang gave her a look. "It's just a shortcut. The arcade's in a big open-air mall, c'mon!"

Dale and Jester's was billed as a family arcade, complete with its own bar-equipped restaurant. Yang had never been inside one before. She had heard of them, sure, but Patch didn't have a lot of chain businesses that weren't fast food. She was a little excited, but suddenly found herself wondering what money she was going to use here.

"Heya!" Ember greeted the lady behind the table.

"Oh, hello! I was starting to think you weren't coming today!" The lady returned the greeting.

"I got slowed down on the highway," Ember shrugged.

"And who is this?" The lady asked, looking to Yang.

"This is my friend, Yang!" Ember told her excitedly, "Set her up with an account, please! And treat her well!" the goth girl winked.

"Understood, ma'am," The lady nodded. She put a card into a reader and her fingers began flying across her keyboard. Once she was finished setting things up, she handed the card to Yang. "Here you go!"

"Thanks!" Yang smiled, reaching for her wallet. "So how do I-?"

"Let's go!" Ember cut her off, grabbed her hand, and dragged her into the arcade.

"Wait, Ember!?" Yang awkwardly stuffed her wallet back in her pocket with only one hand.

They reached the middle of the arcade floor before Ember finally let go. "What do you wanna play? We can do a racer, fighter, shooter, I think there's a Guitar Legend cabinet around here too."

"Don't I need to put money on this card?" Yang asked.

"Don't worry about that," Ember assured her, "I got it covered."

"Are you sure?" the card suddenly felt heavier in her hand, "I don't want to owe you or anything…"

"I said don't worry about it!" Ember giggled, "Let's play!"

Yang looked at the card again. "Not rich my ass…" For a brief moment, she was worried that Ember was trying to buy her friendship. That thought was quickly pushed aside. _She doesn't exactly flaunt her money…_ Yang rationalized, _Sure, she has her fancy car, but it's not like she got that for anyone but for herself. She's probably just trying to be nice._

Yang followed Ember to their first game, a racer with four stands. Ember was already seated in the far one, and Yang slipped in next to her. The one on Yang's other side was also filled out a moment later, diverting the blonde's attention. "Are we all going to be racing each other?"

"Only if we all pay in within about a minute of each other," the stranger answered. "You two game?"

"Sure, I'm down," Ember smiled.

"Alright!" The stranger swiped her machine with her card, and Yang watched the display.

_Credits received!  
Remaining credits on card: 102_

_I wonder how many credits my card has,_ Yang wondered, hoping to get insight into the truth of Ember's financial situation. She swiped her card.

_Credits received!  
Remaining credits on card: Admin_

"What?" Yang thought for a moment she read the screen wrong.

"I told you not to worry about it," Ember spoke up with a smirk on her face.

Yang ultimately decided to push her concerns aside for now. With this card in hand, why not allow herself to enjoy the afternoon of seemingly limitless video games? "Well, don't think I'm gunna let you win cuz of it!" She goaded.

"Oh, you're goin' _doowwn_!" Ember teased right back.

* * *

"Y'know, you could've let me win _one_ of the racing games," Ember fake-pouted.

"Oh, don't even!" Yang shook her head, "I don't think I even got to shoot anyone in Temporal Crisis!"

The two girls had left the arcade after nearly three hours of non-stop video gaming fun. Any concerns about the goth girl had long since left Yang's mind. The time they spent in the arcade didn't show some manipulative bully trying to trick and eventually humiliate Yang like the blonde had feared a few hours ago. Instead, the happy and energetic Ember Fall seemed to be just another teenage girl, albeit one that likely had a _lot_ more money than she let on.

"You were just _bam!_ Headshot! _Bam_! Headshot!" Yang continued excitedly. "Co-op my ass."

"I'd rather not," Ember teased as they turned down the alley, "No offense, you're just not my type."

"Um, ew…" Yang grimaced, "That is not what I meant and you know it."

"Maybe I'm your type?"

The girls turned to see the voice. A man bundled up in heavy clothing was staring them down. The look on his face made Yang uneasy.

"Sorry," Ember offered calmly, "Not a fan of baseball. Could never stand holding a bat."

"That's too bad…" the man took steps toward them.

"Ember, we should go," Yang insisted, trying to get away before the man was too close to get away from.

It was too late. The man widened his steps and back them up against the wall before quickly pulling out a knife. "You ain't going anywhere, sweetheart."

"Holy shit…" Yang threw her hands up.

"Stay calm," Ember told Yang.

"Cash, now!" the man demanded.

"I'll give you some money, just let me keep my wallet?" Ember slowly pulled her wallet out of her coat's inside pocket. She fished out the bills and handed them over. Her eyes never left his face, studying his features intently.

The man grabbed the cash before looking over to Yang. "C'mon!"

"I don't have any cash…" Yang admitted. What little she had this morning was spent on food and drink in Dale and Jester's.

"Don't lie to me!" The man shook the knife at her.

"Hey, I gave you more than enough for one mugging," Ember defended, "leave her alone."

"Shut up!" the man grabbed Ember's collar and tossed her aside. He stepped even closer to Yang, till the blonde could smell alcohol on his breath. The knife hovered over her abdomen. "Give. Me. The money."

"I… I told you I don't have any…" Yang insisted. The blonde shut her eyes.

Everything went still.

"Back off," Ember's voice was hard and cold.

Yang opened her eyes to see Ember had her right arm around the man, grabbing his collar from behind. Her left hand was pressing the barrel of a pistol into his neck. Her finger was steady on the trigger. _He had a gun? How did she get his gun?_

"Yang, take his knife, please."

Yang snapped out of her fear-induced paralysis and did what Ember said. The man, now disarmed, began to raise his own hands. Ember spun, using the back of her right leg trip the man and her grip on his collar to throw him onto the ground. "What the fuck!?" the man coughed, the impact knocking the air out of his lungs. He backed up to the opposite wall before looking up to see Ember aiming the pistol at his face.

"Ho. Ly. _Shit_." Yang breathed, her nerves beginning to calm. "Where did you learn to do _that_?"

"I'll… tell you in a bit," Ember assured her. _Of all the fucking days for some dumbass to mug me…_ she brought her right hand up to her temple, trying to sooth the scar. It always ached when she got angry. Or was she angry _because_ it ached? Sometimes it was hard to tell. Her hand dropped into her pocket where she pulled out her phone and keys, handing them to Yang. All the while, her gaze and her aim never left the mugger.

"There's a contact in my phone, Chief Calavera. Call her and tell her what happened," Ember told the blonde.

"Chief…? Okay…" Yang nodded. She turned to head to the car and spotted a wallet on the ground. Black with a red rose design. _Ember was still holding her wallet when the guy tossed her,_ Yang recalled. She picked up the wallet and sped out of the alley.

The man watched the blonde leave. He returned his gaze to the goth with the gun and made to get up.

"Do yourself a favor and don't move," Ember sighed. "I was having such a good day before now, don't ruin it for either of us."

"You really think you can shoot me, girly?" the man goaded.

"You're new to Vale, aren't you?" Ember deduced, getting down on her right knee to be more his level while keeping her eye on him. Her right hand reached into her left boot and pulled out a smooth black cylinder. "Y'know, you were lucky my friend was here when you first showed. I don't want her to see _this_ side of me, not yet anyway. But now it's just you and me."

"W-what does it matter if I'm new?" the man asked, eyeing the cylinder with a hint of fear. He looked back the way Yang left to see they were truly alone in the alley.

"When you get to prison, and you _will_ be going to prison," Ember's voice was cold and calm as she screwed the cylinder onto the pistol barrel, "ask your cellmate to tell you about Cinder Fall. Ask him to tell you about her daughter, Ember." Suppressor secure, Ember dug it into the side of the man's knee. She covered the mugger's mouth with her free hand to muffle any shouting. "Ask him to tell you how easy you got off here."

She pulled the trigger. The bullet severed the man's knee, and he screamed into her hand. "Still doubt this girly?" she mocked.

He shook his head vigorously. "Good," Ember nodded. She tossed her gun up and grabbed it by the barrel, holding it as if the handle was the head of a hammer. "Now I need you to stay quiet, so enjoy your nap." The handle whipped across the mugger's head, knocking him out cold.

Ember massaged her scar one last time as her mental state returned to something most would consider 'normal'. The man robbing her, she could deal with. The man robbing Yang, she could even brush aside – at least for the time being – as long as it went no further. But the man hurting Yang? Pressing her against the wall, intent to do god knows what? _That_ made her angry.

Ember sighed as she stashed the suppressor away and holstered the pistol into the concealed holster down the back of her jeans. This wasn't good. She may have avoided the worst case by sending Yang away, but the blonde woman was hardly stupid. She had already called Ember out on avoiding questions, and Yang would definitely have a few more now. The goth was trying so _hard_ to not scare her friend away, but she didn't want to outright lie to her either.

She walked out of the alley toward her car, meeting the arriving patrol car halfway. A policeman got out of the car and looked toward the goth. "Ms. Fall?"

"He's down the alley," she informed the cop, "be careful with his knee."

She left the cop to his work and climbed into her car where Yang was waiting in the passenger seat. Yang had certainly calmed down, and there was a thoughtful look in her lilac eyes.

"Y'know, I've lived in Vale almost my whole life," Ember spoke up, hoping to cut off difficult questions, "And that was the first time I've ever been mugged."

"Why do you have the personal number for the chief of police?" Yang asked, ignoring Ember's attempted topic.

"Maria's a family friend," Ember answered quickly.

"Right," Yang nodded. She sensed there was more there, and rightly so. "I saw you already leaving the alley as the patrol car pulled up. So did you just leave that guy with his gun, without a cop there?"

"He doesn't have a gun, Yang," Ember answered

"What do you mean?" Yang looked over to her, "Did… did you take it?"

Ember shook her head and looked Yang in the eye. "No, Yang. He doesn't have a gun. He never had a gun. That was _my_ gun."

"Your…?" Yang was taken aback, "When the hell did you have time to grab it?"

Ember sighed deeply, knowing where this was going.

"I mean, we haven't left each other's sides since we were at the school. I suppose you _could_ have grabbed it from in here, but I think I would have noticed…" the blonde slowly put the pieces together. "Were… were you _armed_ at school?"

"I'm always armed," Ember answered in a defeated tone.

"How!?" Yang accused, "I mean, won't _someone_ find out? Does anyone _know_?"

"The right people know," Ember confessed, "No need to panic students."

"But how? Why?"

"It was either get a gun and learn how to defend myself, or have a twenty-four-seven bodyguard," Ember informed her, "I picked this over having some large, bald shadow following me from class to class. As for the _how_ … you'd be surprised what you could get away with when you mother does things like single-handedly saving the music hall."

"That or a bodyguard?" Yang didn't know what to think, "Who the hell are you!?"

Ember stretched her brain to figure out how to be as honest as possible without giving everything away. "I… am the daughter of Cinder Fall."

"What, is your mom the mayor or something?" Yang continued, happy to _finally_ be getting some real answers.

"No, she has more power than _that_ ," Ember smirked.

"…So you _are_ rich."

"I'd call us wealthy, not rich," Ember countered.

"What's the difference?" Yang crossed her arms.

"People like the Schnee's are rich. You heard of them? In Atlas?" Ember explained, "People with _deep_ pockets who can drop ten grand like it's pocket change and their bank account doesn't even feel it. We don't have _money_ like that _,_ but we do have _connections._ I told you mom was a businesswoman? She has a hand in a _ton_ of the small to medium businesses. One or two of the larger ones as well, the ones that have their roots in Vale.

"This car for instance," Ember continued, "Mom helped the dealership nail a _huge_ contract that gave them a _huge_ amount of resources for cheap. Massive profits with no drop in quality. In return she got a ton of perks and favors. I got this car for my sixteenth birthday. This baby is almost certainly worth a fortune, like you said, but we didn't pay a penny. You get it yet?"

"I think I do," Yang nodded, "like Dale and Jester's, too. Your mom must have a stake in that place, at least this local one. You don't have the money to fill a normal card to bursting, but because of who you know you're able to get administrator access cards that are _supposed_ to be used for just testing the systems?"

"Exactly," Ember nodded, "I will admit my mom and I do carry around… more than the average amount of pocket cash. But not enough to drop a few grand a week like it's nothing, just enough to be comfortable. I do have a hefty bank account, but that's mostly money I've saved to get it that large."

"Okay, that's fair…" Yang nodded, "so why are people scared of you?"

"Like I said, my mom has a reputation," Ember reminded her, "as someone you don't want to cross. Cardin's dad got on her bad side. He has a hard time finding work now, completely black-listed. The kids at school were afraid to get close to me because they didn't want to get on _my_ bad side. They were afraid of what my mom would do if they managed to upset or hurt me."

"You don't really _have_ a bad side…" Yang noted, thinking back on her time with the goth girl.

"They didn't get the chance to know me first, like you did," Ember pointed out, "That's why I didn't want to tell you right away… I don't want to scare you away, Yang. The kids at school may be kind, but they're not my friends. I just want you to be my friend."

"I am your friend," Yang assured, "Thank you for finally telling me. I'm sorry you ended up _having_ to. I… I've been hurt by… people I should have been able to inherently trust. I learned the hard way that when people say 'you can trust me', it usually means you can't. And I do _want_ to be your friend, I would have just left without asking any questions otherwise. But that meant I did have to ask the questions."

"Do you have any more?" Ember asked, wanting to finally put any and all concerns to bed.

Yang looked the girl over. "Yeah, actually… can I see it?"

Ember gave her a confused look, "See what?"

"Y-your gun?" Yang clarified.

Ember noted her friend's growing anxiety. "Have you ever held one before?"

"N-no," Yang shook her head, "They actually… make me uncomfortable. But if you're going to have one regardless, I guess I should get used to it, right?"

Ember agreed, if tentatively. She reached behind her and pulled out the pistol. She removed the magazine and cleared the chamber before dropping the ammo in her cupholder and handing Yang the now empty weapon. Yang took up the weapon and Ember immediately had pointers for her.

Ember pushed the barrel away from being pointed at herself, "Don't point the business end at anyone unless you plan to use it, even if the gun's empty. Good habits, y'know? And keep your finger off the trigger unless, well… second verse, same as the first."

"Good habits," Yang nodded, following Ember's instructions. "It's heavy."

"It's an all metal nine millimeter 1911, so it _is_ heavier than your average pistol," Ember informed her, "I also have a custom .45 version at home that's my _real_ sweetheart, but that one's a little _too_ powerful for the day-to-day."

Yang handed the gun back to Ember. She loaded it and double-checked the safety before re-holstering. "I usually go to the gun range on Thursdays, after school. Keep up my skills, squeeze off a few rounds… You wanna tag along? It might get easier if you fire one, immersion therapy style?"

"I'll hang out," Yang nodded, "But no promises on actually firing anything."

"That's fair," Ember nodded. "I should probably get you home. Where are you living?"

"The student dorms," Yang answered, "I got a special arrangement with headmaster Ozpin."

"That's cool," Ember smiled, "shall I express drive?"

"Please, no!" Yang's hand shot for the 'oh-shit' handle, making Ember laugh.

As Ember shook in her laughter, Yang noticed something hidden behind her right-swept hair. "Eleven…"

"Huh?" Ember looked over, still smiling form her humor fit.

"I counted ten piercings earlier," Yang told her, "but you have eleven. Why do you hide that one?"

"I'm not _trying_ to hide it, I just had my other ear done before I found that piece," Ember explained, "It's my favorite, though, so I don't really mind the idea that it's just for me."

"You really like roses, don't you? Your car, your wallet – which by the way I grabbed from the alley-"

"-Oh shit! Thanks."

"-And now your favorite piercing?"

"Yeah, I do," Ember smiled.

"Why roses?" Yang pressed.

"I don't know…" Ember answered quietly, "I just… always have…" The goth girl began massaging her right temple.

"Are… you okay?" the energetic girl's subdued reaction concerned Yang.

"Just an old ache," The goth brushed off with a smile, "Student dorms, right?"

"Yeah," Yang nodded, "Right."

They left the parking lot, and Yang was left with yet another question. Just when she thought she had the strange goth figured out, there would be another dodged question. Another vague answer. Another interaction that left Yang wondering what her new friend was hiding _now_?


	5. Cinder's Day

Cinder Fall never expected to be a mother. When she took over this criminal organization from her predecessor, she doubted she would have the time to find a husband and raise a family. Little did she know a husband wouldn't be required. Nor would childbirth, something she thanked the heavens for having avoided. Instead, her own little bundle of joy would come from the discovery of a dying, abandoned child, a shot of familiarity, and the unusual feeling of compassion.

Now that little girl was seventeen, and Cinder both loved – and feared – the woman her little flame was becoming. She was intelligent and kind, if a little goofy. At least, she was most of the time… when she did get angry, _that_ was when she became scary. At the very least she knew how to aim it, and it made her excel at a specific kind of job… a job Cinder was unsure she wanted for her daughter.

Cinder tossed her worries aside for now. She still had two more years of her little girl in high school before any of that could come to pass. Speaking of… "Ember! Have you eaten!? It's almost time for you to go!"

"Shit!" she heard from the direction of the hall, her daughter running into the kitchen.

"Language!" Cinder teased.

"Fuck!" was Ember's answer.

Cinder squinted her eyes and followed her daughter into the kitchen. "Where did you learn to be such a smart-ass?"

Ember smiled and ran over to half-hug her mother, "from the best, of course!" She jetted back to the table to pack the pancakes into a container.

"You never answered my question," Cinder reminded her, "are you excited for your first day of junior year?"

"You know I'm not a fan of school," Ember bemoaned, "can't I be homeschooled?"

"No, you can't. knowledge aside, you need to learn how to be sociable," Cinder told her.

"I think I'm pretty good at that…" Ember shrugged.

"Regardless, you need school. It's not healthy for a girl your age to stay cooped up inside her house all the time," Cinder claimed, "you hardly left at all this summer."

"Fine…" Ember conceded, knowing she could never have won in the first place. "Speaking of getting out of the house, I might hit the arcade after school."

Based on previous experience, Cinder knew that 'might' usually meant 'absolutely will' when it came to the arcade. "I'll just assume you are. Let me know if plans change."

"Got it," Ember nodded, "Thanks, mom."

"You have your .45?" Cinder asked.

"I'm taking the 9, actually," Ember informed her mom, "the .45 sounds a bit big. I'll probably be taking that one on Thursday, though."

"Right, the gun range," Cinder recalled, "I might make the time to join you this week."

"I'd like that," Ember smiled, "been a while since we went shooting together. Anyway, if I _have_ to go school, I need to leave. Love you, mom!"

"I love you too, little flame," Cinder smiled.

* * *

Cinder Fall liked being betrayed about as much as anybody. One would think someone wouldn't break the rules set by Vale's premier crime lord. However, every few years, someone got it in their head that they could _win_. Against _Cinder Fall_. It baffled the woman, because it always ended the same way. The rebel would be quelled, and an example made of them. An example that would get people back in line.

But only for another year or two, apparently. And so she found herself driving home with some extra business to take care of. Not how she planned to spend her day out when she first left, but the rogue had been found and it was time to deal with him. The strangest thing about this scenario is _where_ he was found. She pulled out her phone and dialed a contact. The second the call picked up, Cinder barked, "Meet me at warehouse 45. We need to talk." Then she hung up.

Cinder arrived at the warehouse not too long after, stepping out of her car and reaching for her cigarettes. The empty pocket reminded her she had promised Ember she would quit. With a grumble, she pulled out a pack of gum she found the opposite pocket and chewed a piece of that instead. She briefly spared a thought for her daughter. It was only a few hours into the school day, and she had told Cinder she planned to hit the arcade after. If all goes well, she'll be done with the upcoming dirty work long before her daughter comes home.

She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind when another car pulled up. Out stepped a dark-haired man with dyed red highlights and blue eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. "I'm here," he nodded to her, hands in the pockets of his long peacoat.

"Adam," she nodded, "I have a few very important questions for you."

"That doesn't sound good," the man, Adam Taurus, frowned. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of one of his pockets and flipped open the top. "Peace offering?" he presented the pack to her, the remaining few sticks pointed her way.

Cinder was tempted to accept, but the gum in her mouth reminded her of her promise. "Thanks, but I'm trying to quit."

"I wasn't aware of that…" Adam put the pack away.

"There's a lot of things you aren't aware of, apparently," Cinder scolded, reaching for the trunk of her car.

Adam pulled off his sunglasses to properly see inside the opened trunk. A man, bound and gagged by duct tape, laid within. "Isn't that…?"

"Mister Stag No, the former lieutenant who thought he could fuck me over," Cinder confirmed.

"What does this have to do with me?" Adam asked.

"I told _all_ of you to keep an eye out for No after we narrowed him down and froze him out," Cinder reminded the man, "So I want you to tell me why he was found hiding in one of _your_ underground casinos? I want you to tell me why it wasn't _you_ who brought him to me. Why it took one of your _patrons_ to tell me today at the supermarket after happening to spot him there last night?"

"We both know they're not _my_ casinos," Adam countered.

"Is that really your response!?" Cinder growled. "Fine. They're _not_ yours. Not anymore."

"Excuse me!?" Adam shouted.

"I put you in charge of those casinos because I _trusted_ you to manage them, to keep an eye on them," Cinder explained calmly. "But it seems I cannot trust you to spot a high priority target hiding in your own establishment – sorry, your _former_ establishment. So either you're lazy or incompetent, which is the best case scenario, or _you_ were helping him hide. The worst case."

"Are you accusing _me_ of betraying you?" Adam scowled.

"I was merely stating it as a _possibility_ , Taurus," Cinder crossed her arms, "The assumption that you're simply lazy is just as likely. Does the hypothetical make you defensive?"

Adam did the smart thing and kept quiet.

"Whatever the case, it's obvious I cannot trust you with the casinos any longer." Cinder closed the trunk and walked back to her driver door before turning back to Adam, "Be thankful that that is _all_ I'm doing, and don't give me cause to do more."

Cinder stepped into her car and drove away. Adam watched the vehicle leave, his fists balled. He tossed the pack of cigarettes in a nearby trashcan and drove away himself. _How am I going to fix this mess…?_

* * *

All did not go well for Cinder. For one, it took some time for everything to get set up. Stag was strapped, shirtless, to a chair in a backroom made exclusively for this purpose. EKG devices hooked his vitals up to a nearby computer being watched carefully by a trusted goon. It took longer than it should have to get everything all set up.

For two, just when she was about to begin 'interrogating' her traitor, she noticed Ember's lunch in the fridge. Content to leave Stag under the watch of Emerald and the other goon, she decided to drop off her daughter's food at the school. Cinder managed to leave it with the school kitchens before the lunch period. However, it made her realize how much of the day had been wasted already.

She returned home quickly, finally ready to begin questioning the man. She shed her coat and put on a pair of rubber gloves before turning to her captive. "Why were you in that casino?"

"Because _fuck you_!"

Cinder sighed. She learned a long time ago simply punching a man in the face was pretty useless torture. Precision was desired, so she took hold of Stag's bicep and skillfully broke his arm with a single strike. The man screamed, but he didn't crack. _This may take a while._

Cinder lost track of time as the 'questioning' continued. Blood coated her gloved hands, Stag was black and blue and red all over, and Cinder had to move on to more creative torments. Her personal favorite was next, involving a sharp iron fire poker with the tip heated to a glowing orange. It would cut and burn his skin, growing closer and closer to vital areas the more he refused to speak.

She started by dragging a slow line from his collarbone to his shoulder. The skin blackened quickly as blood dripped down. "You're not smart enough to oppose me on your own," Cinder deduced, "Who was helping you?"

"Santa Claus, you _bitch_!" Stag screamed.

Cinder sighed and buried the tip into his shoulder, quenching the tip of the iron with his blood. Stag screamed until she finally pulled the cooling iron out of his skin. Everything was quiet for a heartbeat.

"Mom?"

Cinder's head whipped around to see her daughter in the room, looking over her mother's handiwork. "Ember! I thought you were going to the arcade today."

"I did," Ember informed her mother, "I was there for three hours."

"Three…?" Cinder looked to Emerald, "has it really been that long?"

Emerald looked down to her watch. "Yes, ma'am."

Ember approached the man in the chair. "What did he do?"

"You don't recognize him?" Emerald asked. It made sense, given the state of his face.

Ember stepped close, reading his face carefully. It clicked, "Holy shit, you found him."

"Yes, I did," Cinder nodded.

Ember stood back, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms. "Y'know, I'm disappointed in you," she directed her words at Stag, "you used to be one of my favorite 'uncles'." The daughter Fall began to slowly walk behind the man, "And now you've betrayed my mom. Probably had nasty plans for her. Probably had nasty plans for me, too. If I were charge of this thing, you probably wouldn't be breathing right now…" She stopped behind him and leaned in close to her ear, "you should consider how lucky you are. And how quickly that luck can run out."

"Fuck you," Stag's voice was steady and confident.

"You always were a tough asshole, even if you weren't very smart," Ember frowned and rubbed her aching scar. She looked to her mother, "How much longer do you think this is going to take…? I kinda wanted to talk to you about something."

"If it's been as long as you say, I should probably take a break anyway," Cinder discarded the fire poker and removed her bloody gloves.

Emerald stepped close to Cinder and whispered so the traitor couldn't hear, "what about him?"

"Let him sweat out the night," Cinder whispers just as quietly, "Get him an IV for hydration. Refuse him food. We'll pick this up tomorrow."

"As you wish," Emerald nodded.

Cinder smiled at her daughter and motioned to the door, "Let's go, little flame."

They walked into the hallway, and Ember took a look behind to make sure Emerald didn't follow. "Hey mom, have you ever seen the Princess Bride?"

"How could I forget that one?" Cinder smiled, "Such a fun movie. What makes you bring it up?"

"I was just thinking about how 'As you wish' is a pretty cool 'I love you'," the goth girl smirked.

Cinder scowled, turning away to try and hide her brightening face. "I told you a million times, Emerald is _not_ in love with me!"

Ember snorted, "That's funny, you're funny."

"Quiet!" Cinder growled, shoving her daughter's shoulder. It didn't stop her laughing.

_Well, two can play at that game_ , Cinder thought as they reached the kitchen and Ember sat down at the table. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about? Are you finally bringing a girl home for me to meet?"

" _Mom!_ " Ember shouted, sufficiently embarrassed.

"Sorry," Cinder shrugged.

"No you're not," Ember deduced.

"No, I'm not," Cinder admitted with a smile. She finally turned to the kitchen at large. "Damn, it's too late to start cooking… feels like a pizza night to me anyway. Does it feel like a pizza night to you?"

"I'd love some pizza!" Ember smiled.

"I'll get to ordering some," Cinder nodded.

"We can get some for Emerald, too!" her daughter teased.

Cinder's glare was warning enough. With the pizza ordered, Cinder turned her attention back to her little flame. "Enough teasing, what do you really want to talk about?"

Ember began to fiddle with her fingers, searching for how to begin. "Do you remember our conversation from this morning? About fate?"

"I do," Cinder nodded, sitting down across from Ember.

"I did meet a girl today, but not in a 'girlfriend' kind of way…" Ember told her mother. "She had blonde hair and lilac eyes."

Cinder's eyes widened. "You really think it might be…?"

"There are two figures in my dream," Ember explained, "The shadow is obviously _him_. That man, that… monster… but the golden light? If I can trust my dreams, she was a safe place for me. Someone who loved me. If this girl I met really is my… my… _sister_ …"

"You want her history looked into?" Cinder deduced.

"Not everything, I wouldn't want her to feel I went behind her back if she found out," Ember corrected, "Just enough to _know_."

"I understand," Cinder nodded, "What's her name?"

"Yang Xiao Long," Ember answered.

"Xiao Long… We'll send out feelers in the morning," Cinder promised.

"Thank you, mom…" Ember smiled.

"If she is your sister," Cinder asked, "if you have family out there, _real_ family… what will you do?"

Ember saw through Cinder's thinly veiled worry in an instant. She changed seats, sitting closer to the woman, and wrapped an arm around her. "Don't worry. Even if, against all odds, everything we thought was wrong and he's the most wonderful father in the world, with a full family waiting for me… it doesn't change that _you_ raised me."

Cinder smiled softly.

"You found me in the snow, you loved me, took care of me," Ember continued. "Whatever happens, you're still my mom, and I love you. And if they think I'm going to give you up, even if they seem _great_ otherwise… they don't deserve to be family. You may not have given birth to me, but you _are_ my mom."

Cinder pulled her daughter in, kissing her on the forehead, "I love you too, my little flame."

"Besides, Yang said she was 'an independent'. She's living in the student dorms thanks to a deal with Principle Ozpin," Ember informed her mother, "I don't think that man is in the picture. And she hasn't said anything, but I don't think we're wrong about him either."

They embraced each other in a happy silence for a short while. Ember was the first to break it, "You still smell like blood and burnt flesh."

Cinder laughed at her daughter's blunt-ness, "and you smell faintly of gunpowder. _Why_ do you smell of gunpowder?"

"Some jackass tried to mug me. I shot out his knee," Ember confessed, "He's probably settling into his prison cell as we speak."

"Well, at least I know your self-defense training is working," Cinder sighed. She may be a criminal, but she didn't like the idea of her daughter shooting people. _Does that make me a hypocrite? Don't know, don't care._

"The hard part was keeping Yang in the dark…" Ember admitted uneasily.

"She was with you?" Cinder raised an eyebrow.

"I took her to the arcade with me, we were mugged on the way back to my car," Ember explained, "She doesn't know about the family business, and… I'm kinda afraid to tell her right now."

"I'll keep that in mind if I ever get to meet her," Cinder promised.

"I hope she's who I think she is," Ember sighed, "I'm, like, 85% sure at _least_."

"It'll all work out, I'm sure," Cinder assured her. They heard a knock at the door. "I hope that's the pizza, I'm hungrier than I thought."

"Interrogations work up an appetite, huh?" Ember smirked, "Let's go eat!"

* * *

Adam Taurus stomped into his private apartment. Today had not gone well. He tossed off his coat, unclipped his weapons, and kicked the wall in fury.

The assault on carpentry attracted the attention of the apartment's other resident. A girl with dark hair and amber eyes stepped out from the bedroom. "Adam? What happened?"

"We lost the casinos, Blake," Adam seethed.

"What? How?" the girl, Blake Belladonna, responded.

"She found Stag," Adam explained, "and now I'm 'untrustworthy'."

"Well… maybe this is a sign…" Blake suggested carefully.

"We're not stopping," Adam warned her, "Cinder has gone soft. Taking over is the _only_ path forward."

"She took away the casinos," Blake pointed out, "That doesn't sound very soft."

"Are you doubting me, my love?" Adam turned to face her. "She _is_ soft. Ever since she found that brat in the snow. Cutting back on what we sell, what we do. Making decisions for the sake of her precious _daughter_."

"She doesn't want to raise a child in that kind of world. Why would she want to be a part of making it?" Blake tried to rationalize.

"Exactly," Adam turned it around, "We're _all_ the worse off for it." He picked up a knife from the table and examined it slowly. "And she wonders why she keeps getting betrayed!" he shouted, turning and throwing the knife at the wall. It embedded itself into an image of Cinder on a newspaper he had tacked to the wall.

"Would you want to raise a child in that kind of world?" Blake tried desperately to appease his empathy, hoping he had _some_ left.

Her words didn't have the intended effect. He turned slowly to her, eyes piercing. "What are you saying?"

Blake was taken aback by his gaze. "What do you think I'm saying?"

"I mean, it _would_ explain why you've been… distant lately," Adam answered.

Blake fought the urge to reel back. "T-that is definitely not the case. Sorry."

Adam sighed, whether of disappointment or relief Blake didn't know. "I'm going to bed," the angry man announced, "I need to rethink my approach. Are you coming?"

"I'm not tired," Blake quickly replied, "I think I'll just watch some TV or read for a bit."

"You always fall asleep on the couch when you do that…" Adam lamented.

"I'll try to make it to bed," Blake lied.

Adam stepped close to her. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Blake's words were confident, but her eyes avoided his.

If he noticed, he didn't say anything. He left for the bedroom without another word. Blake took the knife out of the wall and replaced it in its sheath. After that, she took a book off a nearby shelf and settled on the couch. She opened the book but didn't read. It was all for appearance. Everything lately was…

She knew Adam was blowing things out of proportion. He wasn't aware, but Blake had seen the numbers. Cinder's organization was hardly doing bad. Yes, profits were less then they were twenty years ago, but it was nowhere near the red. There was still enough money to make everybody happy.

Even as Adam claimed people continually betrayed Cinder, at least the last three of these 'traitors' were organized by Adam himself. And those were just the three Blake was sure of, who knows how far back it really goes. He was lying to everyone, including Blake. The real question was whether he was lying to himself…

She had been holding onto the hope that the Adam she fell in love with was still in there, somewhere. But with every day that went by, she was less and less sure… and she was more and more terrified. He was going off the deep end, and sooner or later it would all erupt in blood. And she still wasn't sure who's side she would be on when that blood spilled.


	6. At the Range

The first week of school was blurring by for the blonde newcomer. Between meeting students and teachers, preparing for classes, and trying to figure out Ember, Yang's days sped by. Before she knew it, Thursday had arrived, and she was anxious about what Thursday entailed. She went to meet her friend in the parking lot.

"Yang! There you are!"

Yang turned to face Ember, smiling due to the goth's infectious energy. "Hey Embs!"

"You excited?" Ember asked as she unlocked her car.

"Not really…" the blonde went for honesty.

Ember stopped, one hand on her door as she looked over the top of her car to Yang, "You don't _have_ to go if you don't want to."

"I do want to go," Yang quickly assured, "I'm just… nervous."

"If you're sure," Ember nodded, getting in her car.

Yang followed suit, climbing into the passenger seat. "It was… interesting, to say the least… being in Port's class and knowing there was a gun in the room, just a few feet away."

"That's why most of the people here don't know," Ember pointed out, "I think Ozpin and Goodwitch know, maybe a few of the other teachers but not all of them." She turned over the ignition.

The engine roaring to life made Yang think back on the last few days. She hadn't left with Ember between Monday and today, so she got to see – or rather hear – Ember's car from the outside. She jumped about three feet into the air the first day when the air was suddenly filled with sound of the muscle car's engine. She had a feeling it was intentionally tuned to sound louder than necessary, a thought she brought up now.

"I don't really know," Ember spoke in answer, "I don't know enough to look under the hood and say 'oh, blah blah blah, V8, blah blah blah, intake something-or-other'. I just know what I like to look at in a vehicle's design."

"So what about maintenance?" Yang asked next.

"I know the basics. Anything more, I take it to our mechanic," Ember replied.

" _Your_ mechanic?" Yang pointed out with a smirk.

"Wealthy! Not rich!" Ember cut her off, knowing what she was going to say next.

"Bullshit," Yang laughed.

Ember sighed and finally pulled out of the parking lot. Before long they were on the freeway. Ember groaned.

"What?" Yang asked.

"Driving the speed limit _suuuucks_ ," Ember complained.

"Laws exist for a reason, y'know," Yang pointed out.

Ember tried to suppress her snort. She wasn't successful.

"What?" Yang narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing!" Ember quickly cleared her throat and killed her humorous grin, "Nothing, just a dumb joke from earlier."

"I love dumb jokes," Yang smiled.

"Eeehhh, you kinda had to be there…" Ember dodged.

Yang frowned, confused at the interaction.

* * *

The gun range Ember took them to was in the back of an actual gun store. Yang walked through the front and was amazed by everything on offer. She had never seen so many weapons in one place. "Ms. Fall!" The man behind the counter greeted Ember, "You lookin' to rent anything today?"

"I'm gunna start with my own .45 today," Ember told him, gesturing to Yang, "This is her first time, startin' small."

"Because a .45 is small…" the man shook his head, grabbing a small box from under the counter, "here are some rounds for you."

"Thank you!" Ember grinned widely and took the box before guiding Yang into a back room.

"So those are bullets?" Yang asked.

"Yup!" Ember opened the box to show her. The box was filled with fifty little brass cylinders.

"You don't buy clips?" Yang asked.

"No, Yang," Ember grinned, "you don't buy fully loaded _magazines_. You buy bullets, and you buy empty magazines, and you fill them yourself. In fact, why don't we start there?" She put the box aside, pulled out two full magazines from under the back of her coat somewhere, and pushed all the rounds out onto the table. The first ten minutes of their day at the gun range didn't even involve guns, Ember's remaining secure in its holster as she taught Yang how to load the magazine among other basics.

"This is actually kinda easy," Yang noted.

"I've had these magazines forever. It's harder to fill new magazines when the springs are still all stiff," Ember informed her.

"So… I'm guessing you don't let the magazines drop on the ground when you reload?" Yang asked.

"No," Ember shook her head, "I mean, if you're pressed for time or willing to pick up them up when you're done, sure, but at a range it _really_ doesn't take that much extra time to pocket an empty magazine when you gotta reach for a new one anyways. Now! Let's move on to the fun stuff!"

Yang grumbled uneasily.

"Don't be a butt," Ember slapped her friend's arm, "I'm not gunna force you behind the trigger. Just watch and listen for now. _If_ you decide to try a weapon, we can rent you a pistol from the shop."

"What about _your_ gun?" Yang asked.

Ember smirked, pulling out a pistol that was _not_ the one she had on Monday. Still an all-black 1911, but this one had different sights, the trigger looked different, the magazine stuck out another inch or so out the bottom of the handle, and the grips were black with a rose design inlaid. And those were just the customizations Yang could notice at a glance. " _This_ is my baby, and no one gets to touch her but me."

"Even I haven't fired Crescent Rose," a voice spoke from behind Yang, "and technically, my money paid for it."

Yang turned around to see two women. The one speaking was a tall woman dressed in a tight red shirt and tight black slacks under a simple black coat. She had hair that fell just past her shoulders that appeared ashen at the tips and burning amber eyes.

"Mom!" Ember cried out, "I totally forgot you were coming today!" The daughter set down the pistol before rushing to her mother and hugging her. "And _technically_ , Crescent Rose's license is in my name," Ember added, sticking her tongue out.

"It's in both of our name until you're eighteen," Cinder reminded her as she returned the hug, "but don't worry, I wouldn't _dare_ interfere with your time with your _baby_. I take it this is Yang Xiao Long?"

"Oh right!" Ember jumped off her mother and gestured between the two women, "Mom, this is my new friend Yang. Yang, this is my mother, Cinder!"

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Fall," Yang shook Cinder's hand, studying her features as she did so. She had pale skin and dark hair, but other than that she couldn't really see the resemblance to Ember.

"Likewise, Ms. Xiao Long," Cinder returned the handshake with a smile, studying Yang's features as well. Cinder mentally shrunk her a few feet and put some baby fat in her cheeks, after which could see why Ember thought she might be the girl from the photograph.

Yang looked behind Cinder to the other woman, dressed simply in a loose suit with dark skin, green hair and red eyes. "Who's she?"

"My name is Emerald Sustrai," the woman introduced herself, "I am Cinder's personal assistant."

Yang cocked an eyebrow. "You mean bodyguard, don't you?"

"If I have to be," Emerald nodded, "though Ms. Fall is more than capable of handling herself."

Yang turned back to Ember with a huge smirk on her face. "So. Personal assistants?"

Ember groaned, "I told you we're _wealthy,_ not _rich_."

"I dunno," Yang shrugged, "You're sounding more and more _rich_ the more I hang out with you."

"Just…" _sigh_ , "shut up and let me teach you how to fire a gun…" Ember shook her head.

"I think I'll take the lane next to you, squeeze off a few rounds myself," Cinder announced, grabbing a few sets of earmuffs from the wall. "Don't forget your protection. No point in ruining your hearing in practice."

"Yes, mom," Ember nodded, taking a pair each for herself and Yang.

"Why don't you join us?" Cinder offered a pair to Emerald, "Too much practice never hurts."

"As you wish," Emerald smiled.

Ember smirked to Yang, speaking quietly, "Have you ever seen The Princess Bride?"

"I heard that," Cinder warned.

"I actually haven't…" Yang answered, missing whatever teasing was going on.

"I'll tell you later," Ember promised.

"Have _you_ seen it?" Emerald asked Cinder, her cheeks dusting pink.

"I have," Cinder answered, "it's a very cute movie."

"I see…" Emerald responded. Cinder's attention was focused on getting her weapon ready and she missed Emerald's blush grow.

Yang leaned in closer, making sure Cinder and Emerald wouldn't hear them this time, "Are they, like…"

Ember cut her off, "That's what I'll be telling you later." The younger Fall straightened up and moved on to her lesson, "now there's a few things you'll want to identify as soon as you grab a new weapon, top priority being the safety, if it has one."

* * *

"Here you go, girls," the owner dropped off a Glock, a magazine for it, and a box of 9mm ammunition.

Yang eyed the care package nervously. She couldn't believe she was doing this. Ember was true to her word and wasn't forcing her, but after being around the three girls firing pistols for nearly an hour and a half, Yang wanted to feel it. If only for a single bullet, she wanted to feel it for herself. She grabbed the magazine and the box of bullets first, setting the weapon itself aside while she readied everything else.

Yang did glance at the Glock as she counted out the bullets she packed into the magazine. She was happy she knew what a 'Glock' was, at least insofar as it didn't look like the gun her father used. She didn't know if she could handle holding that one, but thankfully whatever it was wasn't a Glock _or_ a 1911. The magazine reached capacity, "Seventeen? Doesn't your gun hold, like, ten? And only cuz you use extended magazines?"

"'Nine millimeter' refers to the bullet size. It is literally a smaller, less powerful bullet to my 'forty-fives'," Ember explained, "also, Glocks tend to use double stack magazines."

"Okay," Yang nodded, taking the info in. She was already told there was no external safety switch, so she didn't look for one. Following Ember's lesson, she loaded the clip, chambered the first round, and kept her finger off the trigger by laying it over the trigger guard. She took the weapon firmly in both hands and drew it up, trying to level her sights on the target set about 5 meters away.

She was shaking less than she thought she would. Maybe it had something to do with the controlled environment, or someone she trusted being just behind her, or maybe even that Cinder and Emerald agreed to also put a hold on their shooting while Yang eased into this. _It's probably a bit of everything,_ Yang realized.

She took deep, calming breaths as she refocused on the task at hand. Weapon raised, she slowly eased her finger onto the trigger. She took in one last deep breath and squeezed.

_BANG_

Even with her earmuffs, the sound seemed loud. The pistol jolted, making her blink reflexively. The gun settled as quickly as it jumped, the recoil bringing the sights surprisingly close to where it she had aimed it a moment ago. She let out the breath she took and felt something she didn't expect. A kind of _rush_ flooding her system and making her almost smile. She had told herself only one bullet but found herself squeezing off another with zero provocation.

_BANG_

And then another.

_BANG_

And another…

_BANG_

_BANG_

_BANG BANG BANG_

She kept firing. The Glock's slide soon shot back and locked there, signaling an empty magazine. Yang was surprised. Did she really empty it? Did she really shoot all seventeen bullets?

_Do I really want to shoot more?_

Yang finally set the gun down. Her hands were shaking now, but for a totally different reason. A smile stretched across her face.

"Look at you," Ember announced her approach for Yang's sake before throwing an arm over the blonde's shoulders, "poppin' your pistol cherry, gettin' all excited! We'll make a gun nut outta you yet!"

"I can't believe I did that," Yang commented, "I can't believe I _could_ do that!"

"Immersion therapy style," Ember winked.

Cinder brought Yang's target back to look it over. "We'll just need to work on your aim," she nodded.

"Really, mom?" Ember shot, "Kinda ruining the moment with that…"

"Sorry…" Cinder genuinely offered.

"Actually, can I see that?" Yang asked. Cinder handed it over. The target had the image of a human silhouette with various bullseyes and point values. Most of the shots had gone wide, missing the 'person' entirely, likely from after she had gone a little trigger happy. Yang counted the bullet holes next, which only added up to fifteen. Three or four shots were within the silhouette, but it wasn't a very high score, even just counting those three or four on their own. "I don't know how serious I'm gunna get into this whole thing, but I can admit _that_ spread sucks," Yang admitted.

Ember smiled. "They grow up so fast," she teased.

"We should probably leave soon," Cinder spoke up, "an afternoon shooting can get expensive quickly, especially with three guns going at once."

Yang found the comment curious. She hadn't seen them pay for a single thing, as per usual for the Falls it seemed.

"But before we go," Cinder smiled, directing her next question to the owner, "Is 'The Run' in order?"

"I set could set up a few rounds," he nodded.

"What do you say?" the mother asked the daughter, "Winner picks dinner, loser does dishes?"

Ember grinned playfully, "You're on!"

"Make sure the targets are randomized," Cinder requested of the owner, "Wouldn't want this one to have an advantage just because she comes here more than I do."

* * *

'The Run' turned out to be an assault course, full of building facsimiles and pop-up targets. The targets were wooden silhouettes with sensor-filled sheet metal backing to register 'kills'. They would pop up based on pre-loaded routines and various checkpoint sensors. It all seemed _very_ advanced and made Yang wonder how much money this place made. She did notice that the two Falls actually handed the clerk money to use the The Run. ' _Connections' must still have their limits._

"I'm gunna run a different routine for each of you, so the second runner doesn't have an advantage," the owner announced.

"You want to go first, little flame?" Cinder offered.

"S'pose I could," Ember smirked, "I'll show you how it's done!"

"Ready up!" the owner called out.

Ember took of her coat and put on a vest provided by the range. She then stepped into position, drawing her 'Crescent Rose'. Yang noted she held the gun a bit closer to her chest, rather than the extended-arm stance she had taught Yang in the range. "ten targets, double taps, two magazines…" Ember whispered to herself as she waited for the go.

"Go!"

Ember moved forward between the plywood 'buildings', her eyes quickly scanning while her gun stayed forward. The first target jumped up on her right, inside a doorway, faster than Yang expected.

_BANG-BANG_

As fast as it rose, the target fell, two new splintered-holes in the wood. Ember never stopped moving as she walked right past the fallen target and through the first checkpoint. The next area was a little larger than the first and made to look like the interior of a shop or something similar. The second target popped up from behind a barrier that might have represented a couch or a bar.

_BANG-BANG_

As soon as that one fell, the next one appeared down a 'hallway'.

_BANG-BANG_

The fourth target appeared on the other side of a 'window' behind her. She heard the target popping and wasted no time spinning with her pistol nearly touching her chest. She eyed the target, quickly brought her sights up and-

_BANG-BANG_

-all within about a second.

"How long has she been shooting?" Yang asked, impressed.

"She's fired 22s and 9s here and there since she was small, always under my supervision of course," Cinder explained, "It was at her insistence, she's always had a fondness for weaponry. I took her to the range here for the first time on her fourteenth birthday to begin proper practice. We went once a week, together. Around her fifteenth birthday, I hired an instructor from the local police precinct for actual training. Crescent Rose was her graduation present from that program.

"All throughout that time to the here and now, she's made an effort to come here once a week," Cinder smiled, watching her daughter work. "Don't tell her I said this, but she's already one of the best shootists I know, and I'm pretty sure she's going to win here."

The next checkpoint was the threshold out of the 'interior' section leading to a large open 'courtyard'. The second she stepped through her next target appeared in front of her.

_BANG-BANG_

Easy pickings, though her gun was now empty. This became a problem as three targets jumped up at once across the courtyard. Ember ran behind a nearby wall for cover while she reloaded.

"Why is she in cover?" Yang asked.

"For the sake of practice," Emerald shrugged, "It's what she knows how to do, because of her training."

Crescent Rose was reloaded, and Ember jumped out of cover and eyed the three targets.

_BANG-BANG_

_BANG-BANG_

_BANG-BANG_

She smiled and began walking across the courtyard, waiting for her next target. When she didn't see or hear it appear, she started to worry. She finally spotted it on _top_ of one of the buildings and groaned to herself.

_BANG-BANG_

The target was down, but it was up so long that if it were a real firefight, she likely would have been shot before she saw them. It would also affect her score, so there was that too… She shook her head to refocus herself and continued moving through the courtyard. When she stepped between two walls with 'windows', the last target appeared to her right.

Rather than turn her entire body, she instead let go with her right hand and crossed her left hand – with the gun in it – over her right arm.

_BANG-BANG_

She fired her last two shots into her last target from her right shoulder. A loud buzzer sounded the end of the course. "Damn it!" Ember cursed, "I can't believe I missed that one on the roof! Those ones always trick me…"

The owner looked over the data pouring into his computer. "That's still one of the best blind runs for that variation," he consoled.

"Yeah," Ember sighed, rubbing her right temple, "but it could have been better…"

"Let's get you out and reset for your mom."

* * *

Cinder's run turned out to be just as impressive as Embers. Yang didn't understand the scoring system when they were finally compared against each other, but they all assured her Ember indeed won. "Yes!" Ember cried once she read the final tally.

"Congratulations, little flame," Cinder smiled, "What do you want for dinner?"

"Chocolate chip and strawberry cookies!" She shouted immediately.

There was a beat of silence before everyone started laughing. "Still such a kid. What will I do with you?" her mother teased, "Unfortunately, that's _not_ a dinner."

"But _mooom_ ," Ember pouted.

"No buts," Cinder resisted, "however, if you pick a simple dinner, I may have to time to cook a batch for dessert?"

"Mac and Cheese!" Ember decided just as quickly as she did the cookies.

Cinder smiled, "As you wish, little flame."

"I'd go with you to the store, but I gotta take Yang home too," Ember told her mother.

"I'll meet you at the house, then," Cinder decided, "I love you."

"I love you, too, mom!" Ember waved her mother off. Her and Yang dropped the Glock back off at the counter before making for Ember's car. "So, what did you think?" she finally asked Yang.

"I liked her," Yang smiled, "She seems good to you."

"I meant the range, silly!" Ember giggled, "Though I'm sure my mom would like the compliment."

"Oh, yeah… It was… not what I expected," Yang answered, "I think I'd be okay with coming back with you next week."

"Tell you what, I'll grab _both_ my 1911's next Thursday," Ember nodded, "You can use the 9, and we won't have to rent one again."

"I noticed you didn't pay for the ammo," Yang pointed out, "but your mom said something about it getting 'expensive'? And then you paid for The Run. Like, you handed over _real cash._ "

"Developing contacts the way she has relies on a _ton_ of respect," Ember explained, "They don't mind us taking a pack of rounds or two every now and then, but if we started to abuse that trust we would start to lose it. Plus, we intentionally over-paid for The Run, which also helps."

"Okay," Yang nodded. "Still think you're rich."

Ember groaned loudly.


	7. The Maiden's Fire

Blake was walking back home after being sent out for an errand requested by Adam. It wasn't unusual, the man spent most of his time planning his next attack against Cinder. She still couldn't settle on how she felt about what Adam was doing. He wasn't entirely wrong… there were certain things that used to be fair game in Vale that weren't allowed anymore. With those things banned, a decent chunk of money wasn't being made anymore.

But the organization was hardly struggling. Other 'industries' now had more attention and had picked up most of the monetary slack. And the things that _were_ banned were so _extreme_ that the general citizenry appreciated the changes and it grew public respect for Cinder herself.

But if Adam kept recruiting people, he had to be saying _something_ right? He was noble and passionate… or at least he was once… Blake shook her head. The internal struggle between her logic and her emotions was tearing her apart. She just didn't know what to think. The only compromise she could find was being cautious with the man while still following him. _Or is that a contradiction?_

Blake shook her head again, trying to dispel the doubts from her mind. It wouldn't do her any good to take them into her and Adam's home, and she had just arrived. Blake pushed through the door to find the living room empty and the door to the basement open. She descended to stairs the discover Adam meeting with three other people.

The first man was someone Blake vaguely recognized. He was tall, well dressed, and gave of a slight air of authority. He had handsome features, blue eyes, and brown hair. Tanager Winchester, a former CEO who lost his legitimate business thanks to the machinations of Cinder Fall. Seems he no longer held any qualms about criminal means.

The second man was one she recognized on reputation alone. Though seeing him for the first time, his narrow, sunken face, wild eyes, and scorpion tail necklace, as well as his general air of violent insanity, meant this could only by Tyrian Callows. His family used to lead the market in one of the goods Cinder had since banned from Vale. Since, he has made his money outside of Vale, and usually in blood.

The third person, a woman this time, was someone Blake recognized all too easily. She wore tighter clothing, with a long brown ponytail, and deep eyes that seemed to change color in certain lights. Blake remembered Ilia Amitola as someone who lived for a cause. Causeless, she could be easily swayed, but once she picked – or was given – a purpose, she was fiercely loyal to a fault.

"Blake," Adam spoke first, "I was just speaking to our allies here."

"Allies?" Blake asked.

"Yes," Adam nodded, "Stag's plan was to slowly gather power to strike Cinder directly. We've all seen how that turned out…"

"The fact that his body has turned up and you're still free means he didn't talk," Tyrian pointed out.

"No reason to stop. In fact, it's ample reason to keep going. _She_ thinks the storm is over…" Adam smiled, "we're shifting gears. which is why I've gathered you all here."

Adam began his pitch, looking over the rag-tag crew he has assembled. "Cinder Fall is _not_ the leader she once was. Her decisions in the past decade have hurt us," he looked to Tyrian and Tanager. "Or we're at least wise enough to see her mistakes for what they are," he looked to Ilia.

"The company is still making profit. That's what the people loyal to her will try to say," Adam continued, "The _truth_ is that profit is on a decline. What nobody wants to admit is that her choices are to the detriment of us all. Things may look rosy now, but in another ten years? Somehow, I doubt it will be the same story. This is a course correction. We are here to save the organization before its failure comes to pass. We're here to take over, not for ourselves, but for the sake of everyone else in this business and their legacy."

"We're behind you, Adam," the idealistic Ilia smiled.

"I just want my company back," the disgruntled Tanager nodded.

"I just want _revenge_ ," the psychotic Tyrian growled.

"You'll have it," Adam promised. "Blake, you picked up my package?"

"Yes, I did," Blake set the pox she picked up from the post office down.

Adam smiled and opened it, pulling out masks that looked like balaclavas with silver animal faces on the fronts. There was a bird, a lizard, a scorpion, a cat, and a bull. "The plan is to shake her foundations. Subtlety hasn't worked."

"If it takes bloodshed to take over, doesn't that imply she's not exactly weak?" Blake argued.

"It's because she's weak that this conversation can even exist, Blake" Ilia countered. "Don't tell me _you_ doubt?"

"N-no, of course not," Blake backpedaled, "I… just want you to be safe, Adam."

Adam cupped both of Blake's shoulders comfortingly. "I'm doing what has to be done, for the sake of everyone," Adam assured softly. "I will be putting myself in danger, and I am sorry, my love. But this is something that _has_ to happen."

"But why you?" Blake asked.

"Because no one else will," Adam answered.

Blake looked over the masks on the table. Five of them, and four people in the room. It was only five people when that number included herself. She was expected to be a part of this. She picked up the mask that felt her vibe, the cat. She was afraid of what would happen next, but Adam's passion and determination had won her over. The very qualities she first fell in love with. "What's the plan?"

"Shake the foundations," Adam answered quickly, "The five of us don't have the power to walk up to Cinder and take her down. But if we create a situation she cannot run away from, she'll have to come to us."

* * *

Vale had a very active nightlife. The Maiden's Fire was a fairy tale themed nightclub that was the center of the entire district, large enough to cover nearly an entire city block. Naturally, it was under the complete control of Cinder's mafia, and far more than just alcohol was sold within its walls. It was the 'must be' location any night of the week, no matter your vice. Adam shared the sentiment and had parked his black van just a block away.

"A risky first target. But no great endeavor is ever without risk."

Adam's chilling quote set the mood for his team. They had all dressed out into black suits with black ties and black gloves. Once the animal balaclavas were on, there would be no way to identify them. They were instructed to bring simple weapons, and everyone took this last moment to check their gear.

Tanager had a standard pistol, nothing standout. Simple and efficient. Ilia liked to blend in as much as possible, and decided her own pistol should be all black. She had also brought a suppressor, just in case. Tyrian decided against firearms, apparently the assassin felt far more comfortable with knives. Just under his jacket were dozens of small throwing knives as well as a few larger ones. Blake brought her own Uzi micro-smg. The familiar gun helped ease her nerves for what was ahead. Adam decided to bring a shortened semi-automatic shotgun for himself. His coat was slightly longer to accommodate it.

"Mask up," Adam ordered, "It's time. Codenames only from here on." Adam pulled the bull mask over his head. The rest donned their masks as well. Blake wore the cat mask. Ilia would be the lizard. Tyrian grabbed the scorpion mask. Tanager took the bird mask for himself.

"Ms. Lizard," Adam looked to tanager, "Would you carry the special gifts?"

"Yes, sir," Ilia nodded, grabbing a backpack that was set between them. Blake had no idea what was inside.

Fully prepared, the group strode purposefully out of the back of the vehicle. They mainly used alleyways to reach the back entrance of the club. Two guards waited by the back door.

"Mr. Scorpion, Ms. Lizard," Adam motioned for Ilia and Tyrian to move up. Ilia retreated into the shadows while Tyrian boldly approached the men.

"Hey, stop right there," One of the guards called out to Tyrian, "You ain't coming through here, and you ain't comin' at all with that mask on."

As the man finished his sentence, Ilia shot quietly from the darkness. He fell to the ground with a fresh hole airing out his head.

"Oh, shit!" The other guard spun toward the source of the bullet and drew his own gun. Tyrian let fell into his hand a knife he had been holding up his sleeve. With a vicious smile behind his mask he tossed it, burying it to the hilt in the last guard's neck. The guard stumbled against the wall, watching the man in the scorpion mask approach him. Tyrian yanked the gun out of the guard's hand and tossed it onto the alley. He then pulled the knife out, letting the guard fall to the ground and bleed choked breathed.

Blake looked on. A horrified expression was hidden by her own mask. "Did they have to die?"

The woman in the lizard mask answered, "All wars have casualties, Ms. Cat."

"Who said this was a war!?" Blake returned.

"Ms. Cat, Ms. Lizard!" Adam commanded their attention, stopping the argument before it began. "Now, Ms. Cat, I do believe your skills are next?"

Blake stood still for only a second before reluctantly walking up the steps to the door. She pushed her reinforced lockpicks and began to work on the heavy deadbolt, hoping her picks were strong enough to avoid breaking. It took about a minute to get through, but the door soon clicked open. The five stepped through the threshold to meet the pumping sounds of the electric club music.

"Split up, force them to spread their defenses," Adam ordered.

"What exactly _are_ we trying to do here?" Blake asked.

"I told you, shake the foundations," Adam explained.

"How?"

"Have you no faith in me?" Adam countered.

Blake was glad he couldn't see her face. He had her cornered. "Of course I do."

Adam was satisfied with the response and moved on, "Ms. Cat, Mr. Bird. Let us focus on clearing the club, scare the customers away. Mr. Scorpion, Ms. Lizard, work around the back rooms and downstairs, distributing our gifts."

"He he he…" Tyrian laughed gleefully, "Gladly, _Mr. Bull_."

Adam looked back to Blake and Tanager. "Ten seconds."

Blake still felt uneasy as she followed her allies into the main room. They spread out, getting lost in the crowd. After ten seconds, she pulled out weapon and began firing into the air. Adam did the same, his occasional shotgun blasts drowning out her automatic fire.

The chaos was near instant. The music, on an automatic program, kept playing as patrons fled the club. Guards with guns started working through the retreating crowd to try and meet their attackers. Blake, Adam and Tanager back up and into cover, intent to hold Cinder's men back and distract from the real work.

Behind the scenes, flying knives a suppressed gunshots quietly cleared any guards that didn't rush to defend the main floor. Once the area was empty of all souls but theirs, Tyrian unzipped the bag on Ilia's back and retrieved blocks of brown clay with ignition packs attached to the fronts. After passing half the plastic explosives to his lizard-masked ally, the pair went to work rigging various points on the walls and supports.

Back on the main floor, Blake blind fired her Uzi, hoping she didn't hit something critical. _What are those two even doing and how long does it take!?_ It seemed the moment she thought this, Ilia was suddenly at her back. "We're ready to go!"

"Where's Tyr- Mr. Scorpion?" Blake asked hurriedly.

"Downstairs, we found a closer entrance to the sewer," Ilia explained, "He's keeping an eye on the door."

Blake nodded and fires three bursts into the air, the pre-agreed upon signal to retreat. They were quickly joined by Adam and Tanager into the back area, with the club's guard closing in behind them. The spotted Tyrian ushering them through a door. Gunshots sounded behind them as the guards finally opened fire. Blake and Tanager stopped to return fire and try to cover the escape. A mixture of luck and skill had carried them this far, but Cinder's men were just as skilled and their luck was running out. One of them finally took a bullet, with Tanager dropping as his leg was shot. " _SHIT!"_

"Damn it!" Blake fired an extended burst to try and cover her grabbing Tanager and pulling him through the door. Once she was through, Adam jammed the door with a nearby pallet so they wouldn't be followed. Blake dropped Tanager for a moment while everyone caught their breath.

"We have to run," Adam informed them, not knowing how long the pallet would actually hold the men. Tanager tried to walk, but quickly stumbled. Blake went to help again, but Adam stepped between them, "We don't have time."

Blake stared in disbelief, "We can't just _leave_ him?"

"He'll only slow the rest of us down," Adam decided, pushing Blake to walk away.

"You son of a bitch!" Tanager called out, "If you leave me behind, I'll talk!"

The four stopped. Ilia turned to Adam, "Even if we _wanted_ to leave him behind, we can't now."

"You three go ahead," Adam sighed, "I'll have an easier time carrying him than the rest of you."

Tyrian and Ilia started to jog down the sewer path, but Blake hesitated. With her own sigh, she turned to flee, trusting Adam. Adam walked back over to Tanager and offered his hand.

"Thank you," Tanager took it, "And I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be…" Adam pulled him up, "It's only what I could expect from someone like you."

Before Tanager could digest the cryptic remark, he felt a hot, sharp pain in his abdomen. He looked down to see Adam's other hand holding a blade hilt deep into his flesh. "You… son of a a…"

"Your services are no longer required, _Mr. Bird_ ," Adam pulled out his blade and watched Tanager Winchester's body fall backward off the small ledge and into the water. He cleaned off his blade and followed the rest of his crew down the sewer.

Blake immediately noticed a lack of Tanager when Adam caught up. "Where is he?"

"They must have clipped his femoral artery," Adam invented, "He didn't make it, Blake."

"Adam," Ilia spoke up, holding something out, "before we get too far away."

"Thank you," Adam took the device that looked, to Blake, suspiciously like a detonator. The bull-masked man hit the switch. The explosions could be heard as they shook dust loose from the roof of the sewer. "Let's get out of here."

They emerged from the sewer a few streets down with their weapons and masks stashed in their jackets. Blake looked down the street toward the club. And orange glow and rising smoke proved her suspicions.

If it wasn't a war before, it certainly was one now.

* * *

Ember woke up the next morning and got dressed before leaving her room for breakfast. When she entered the kitchen, she noted her mother was on the phone and in a bad mood.

"So even with all we have, including one of their bodies, we have _no_ idea who's done this!?" Cinder spoke in her 'mob boss' voice, as Ember liked to call it. "You better find me something, soon, or it's _your_ ass." _Click_.

"Rough morning?" Ember asked to announce her presence.

Cinder noted her daughter before collapsing at the table and sighing with her head in her hands. "You have no idea."

"No kidding," Ember tried to keep the mood up, "I didn't know we were killing anyone soon."

"We weren't," Cinder corrected, "The club was attacked."

" _The_ club?" Ember sat across from her mom, "You mean Maiden's?"

"You don't have to concern yourself, little flame," Cinder tried to deflect.

Ember wasn't having any of it, "I think I'm old enough for you to let me in a little on the family business, mom."

"You know you don't have to follow in my footsteps," Cinder offered, hoping her only daughter would take the out.

"I know," Ember nodded, "What happened?"

Cinder sighed, somehow unsurprised by Ember's insistence. "Like I said, the club was attacked. At least four gunmen assaulted and used explosives to damage the club."

"Holy shit…" Ember had never heard of someone attacking her mother like that, "How long have we lost the club?"

"It will take a few weeks, if I call in a few favors I was hoping to sit on," Cinder answered.

"And if we don't call those favors?" Ember responded.

"If _I_ don't call those favors," Cinder emphasized the singular pronoun, "then the club will be closed longer than I can afford. We move far too much product out of Maiden's. I can cover profit loss a little by demanding more from other kickbacks while the club is down, but each kickback will be less and less until repairs are complete."

"Who would even attack you like this?" Ember wondered aloud, "The only people I can think of with enough of a grudge is the Branwen Gang, but I didn't think their leader had the guts to come after you."

"She doesn't," Cinder confirmed, "In fact, she called me to make sure I knew it wasn't them."

"I heard you say something about a body?" Ember reminded her.

"Which tells us nothing on its own, apparently," Cinder frowned, "I assume he wasn't a critical part of the crew."

"We don't know who, but do we know why?" Ember moved on.

"Nothing was stolen, drugs or money," Cinder informed her. "I look at this and I see an opening move of something bigger. Stag's body gave out before he did, he was always stronger than he was smart. I still believe he couldn't oppose me on his own, this might be whoever supported him."

"Which means it _could_ be someone within the 'family'," Ember caught on, "A takeover?"

The table went quiet as both women thought. "Ember, are you taking your .45?"

"I have the 9," Ember shook her head.

" _Could_ you take the .45?" Cinder asked, "I know it's not _much_ stronger, all things considered, but every little bit would help me feel better. I almost wish I could send you to school with an assault rifle…"

"Maybe I should just stay home?" Ember suggested.

"No," Cinder shook her head, "You need to go to school. And if you need a 'family business' reason… If this is a takeover, they'll be watching. We don't want to seem scared after the first attack."

"Okay," Ember agreed.

"Though I will be sending a man or two to watch the school," Cinder motherly defensive won out a little, "They won't enter, just stake it out, watch for trouble."

"Makes sense," Ember nodded, "Though… Me and Yang had plans to hit the arcade after school. Should I cancel that at least?"

Cinder thought for a moment. "If it's something you already had plans with Yang for, then no. I'll send men to the arcade after school, different men so you don't appear to be followed."

"Okay. I'll go swap my guns," Ember stood. She didn't leave the table just yet, however. "Speaking of Yang…?"

"Right. That," Cinder remembered, "There's been a complication. Yang was orphaned at some point, and apparently Patch likes to seal orphan records when that orphan becomes independent. It's far from impossible, but it will take time to quietly sneak under the red tape. And with everything else now…"

"It's not top priority, I understand," Ember nodded. "What made her an orphan?"

"I thought you didn't want to peek at her history behind her back?" Cinder pointed out.

"Right. You're right," Ember remembered, "It's just... if she's an orphan, then..."

"Then you still have me," Cinder laid her hand on her daughter's.

"Right," Ember smiled.

"Besides, we both know what that man did to you," Cinder reminded her. As the moment passed, Cinder looked around the kitchen. "I'm sorry, I never started breakfast," she apologized.

"It's okay, I'll hit a drive through," Ember assured, "You have enough to worry about today." Ember finally moved, walking around the table and hugging her mother tight.

Cinder returned with an even tighter hug, "Thank you… I love you, my little flame."

"I love you too, mom," Ember smiled, "Even if the storm is yet to come, we'll whether it. We'll make it through this."

"I know we will," Cinder shared her daughter's smile, "Now get your gun and get to school. We have to show strength and confidence."

Ember nodded and went back to her room. She held some small hope in her heart that this was an isolated incident. Her head, however, saw this as the same thing Cinder saw it as. The start of a larger war.


	8. Tension Rising

News of what happened at the club had spread quickly across the city. Ember didn't need to read any articles to know. She could tell by the air of the school the moment she arrived. Everyone was quiet and avoided her eye. _This is exactly the shit that makes me not like coming to school,_ Ember frowned, _looks like I'm in for another day of everyone treating me like some unapproachable god…_

"Wow, what happened?"

_Except for one_ , Ember breathed a sigh of relief as she turned to face her one true friend. "You didn't hear about the nightclub?"

"The one that blew up last night?" Yang asked, "I heard, but…" the blonde looked around, noticing the other students' behavior toward Ember, "oh… Your mom owned it, didn't she?"

"Yup," Ember sighed.

"And now no one knows how to act around you," Yang nodded, "what exactly do they think you'll do?"

"I don't even know," Ember answered honestly, "I think this is just their way of trying to give me space or something."

The bell rang for the first of the day's classes. "I'll see you at break?"

"Yeah, maybe the day will be better by then. See you later, Yang!" Ember waved off her friend and walked toward her first class.

She sat at the back of the room in an attempt to make class easier on everyone who wanted to avoid her. It also made it easier for her to see everyone entering the room after her, which included Cardin Winchester. He was one of the few people today who dared to look Ember's way, and Ember noted he seemed more, for lack of a better word, 'emotional' upon acknowledging her. Ember frowned, _this day is going to be bad enough without dealing with more of his shit._

With her mood set for the rest of the class, Ember found it hard to pay attention. It led to one of the rare times she took advantage of her unique position during school hours. She took out her phone to scroll for more entertaining and distracting information, knowing not even the teacher would dare call her out on it today.

This would prove futile. The very first thing to come across her phone when she opened her browser was an article about the attack. She was about to swipe it away in a huff, but the picture associated caught her eye. She opened the article and began reading.

_The Maiden's Fire was the subject of a bombing incident late last night. Three armed assailants entered the club through the back door and cleared the dance floor, opening fire on site's private guard force. This was only a distraction, however, as an unknown number of accessories planted C4 charges. Where they managed to obtain military hardware is unknown, as is much of what happened and why. The attackers fled into the sewer system before setting off the charges. There have been no arrests, though the body of one of the attackers was found by the sewer entrance earlier this morning. He had no identification, and police have asked news companies to circulate his image in an attempt to quickly positively ID the dead perpetrator._

What followed was unimportant background information on the club itself, or at least what Cinder allowed to be published of the club's history. Ember scrolled back up to the picture and looked closely. She then looked over to Cardin, who had his head low in his seat _. He's not being scolded for not paying attention either_ , Ember noted.

Class dragged on, but the eventually the bell signaled sweet release. Ember b-lined for the bathroom and pulled her phone back out, her thumb finding her mom's contact.

"Ember? Is everything ok?" Cinder picked up on the first ring.

"Yes, mom, I'm fine. Am I interrupting anything?" Ember asked.

"No, honey. Maybe in another ten minutes, but not now," Cinder assured, "what's going on?"

"The attacker found dead at the club last night," Ember jumped straight to the point, "was that Cardin's dad?"

"Oh _shit_ ," Cinder sighed, "I forgot Tanager's son was in your class…"

"It is, isn't it?" Ember deduced.

"Is Cardin giving you trouble?" Cinder interrogated.

"No, he's not an idiot like that," Ember assured her mother, "but I think I should probably talk to him…"

"Are you sure?" Cinder's voice was full of motherly concern.

"Either he'll believe me and that's one less thing to worry about, or he won't and we'll at least know where he stands," Ember rationalized, "Either way, it's probably a good idea to open that line of speaking. Who knows, maybe he's seen four or five strange people hanging around his dad?"

Cinder didn't immediately respond.

"Mom? You still there?"

"You know you don't have to do that, right?" Cinder asked, starting a conversation she had been dreading for a while now. "You still have two years of high school to get through, and even after you'll have so many options for your career. Many of them slightly more legal and _far_ less dangerous."

"It's called a _family_ business for a reason, mom," Ember argued with an audible smirk.

"You're the only one who has ever called it such," Cinder reminded her daughter, maintaining her serious tone. "I just want you to know it's not your only option. You can have a safer life."

"I know I could do whatever I wanted, mom," Ember replied, "I'll let you know if I learn anything from Cardin."

"Ember!"

"I gotta get to class! I love you, mom!"

Cinder sighed in defeat, a smile creeping onto her face. "I love you too, my stubborn little flame."

* * *

The first break arrived, and Ember's task was set. Armed with information granted to her by a call to Chief Calavera, she sought out Cardin and found him in the back-corner table of the library. She stepped inside and, as with most of her day so far, was met by quickly hushed conversation and whatever the opposite of staring was called. Even the librarian kept a cautious silence.

Ember again made the rare move of flexing her social power. She stared Cardin down before looking to the other people in the library and quietly motioning for them to leave. Everyone but Cardin stood and exited the library. Cardin himself refused to look her in the eye, staring down at the tabletop.

"I'll be right outside the door?" the librarian announced, though it sounded like she was asking for permission.

"That's fine," Ember nodded. She didn't plan for anything to get out of hand and saw no reason to deny the woman what little supervision she could snag. The door closed and Ember was alone with Cardin.

She approached his table and took the seat opposite him. She crossed her hands on the table as a sign of peace. "I'm sorry."

"Are you?" Cardin responded predictably, still not facing her.

"Yes," Ember kept her voice low and steady, not rising to his challenge. "I know you don't like me or my mom. I know you blame us, or at least my mom, for your father losing his company. And you're right to."

Cardin's looked up, surprised. He never expected her to actually own up to that fact.

"We know what we are, Cardin," Ember spoke in reply to the man's confused face, "and we know what we do. We like to think we do it as honorably as we possibly can, but we're not stupid and we're not lying to ourselves. And in that fact, I can promise you we had no reason to kill your father. Our business with him was already done, and we would prefer this never happened.

"No one deserves to lose someone they love," Ember carried on in a softer voice, "We're not sorry for what we did do in the past, but his death was _never_ in our plan. In _that_ , you do have our… what's the right word here… honest sympathies."

Silence fell between them. They sat like that until Cardin finally spoke up. "I know you wouldn't just kill him. The rest does surprise me, but I do know that much. My father had it hard after… everything. I was content just being angry at you, but I think dad wanted more… Mom and I tried to tell him it wasn't worth it, but I guess he didn't listen."

"Cardin, I have to ask," Ember moved onto the next order of business, "did you notice your dad hanging out with anyone strange lately? Someone who might have been a part of the attack last night?"

"No," Cardin shook his head, "he hasn't been home much for the last week or two."

"That's the truth?" Ember pressed.

"Whether I hate you or not, I know lying to you would be stupid," Cardin frowned.

"You don't have anything at all?" Ember continued.

"Well… I did hear him talking to someone I didn't know on his phone," Cardin admitted, "that's all."

"The police didn't find anything to ID him," Ember recalled the report Chief Calavera sent her, "his phone might not have been on him."

"It's at the house," Cardin confirmed, "I saw it this morning."

"Any chance you could bring that to school tomorrow?" Ember tasted a lead.

Cardin eyed her with his usual anger, "Why should I? Why should I help _you_?"

"I could always go the mob route and have people sent to tear apart your home," Ember pointed out, "but I don't think that's necessary."

"Why not?" Cardin crossed his arms.

Ember opened her phone and pushed it forward, showing what was on its screen to Cardin. "This is the official report, the one with info the media doesn't get. Your dad was shot, but that wasn't what killed him. The attackers blocked the sewer entrance to make their escape, but your dad was found dead _inside_ the sewer. The bullet was in his leg and would only serve to slow him down, not kill him. The fatal wound was a knife to his gut."

"What?" Cardin looked over the report to confirm Ember's story. "What does that mean?"

"It means your dad was killed by the other attackers," Ember explained. "They used him and his rage against my mom, and once he wasn't useful anymore, they threw him away."

It was clear on Cardin's face that he didn't know what to think.

"I know you don't like us," Ember pressed, trying to make up his mind for him, "the argument could even be made that we _are_ responsible for his death. But the one who actually killed him is one of the attackers. Can you bring that phone to school tomorrow?"

Cardin parsed his thoughts quickly, eventually coming back to reality and pushing Ember's phone back to her. "I'll bring it, but not for your sake."

"I wouldn't expect anything else," Ember said in thanks. She pocketed her phone and stood to leave the library.

"I do have a question for _you_ ," Cardin announced to her retreating back, "if that's okay."

Ember turned, saying nothing but giving her ear.

"Does your blonde know yet?" Cardin took the cue to carry on. "It sounds like things are about to get dangerous around you. If you really care about her, you should tell her the truth. Or let her go. Or both. _Before_ she gets hurt."

Ember frowned, her eyes narrowed, and her scar pulsed. "Don't forget the phone tomorrow, Winchester," she spat, walking away before he could get another word in.

Ember's first thought was to find a secluded corner to call her mom from. She wanted to squeeze in the phone call before the bell for the next class.

"Ember!"

_Shit! I completely forgot about her!_ Ember hid her cringe and turned to face, "Yang. Hey."

"Hey!" Yang caught up with her, "what was your talk with Cardin about?"

"Huh?" Ember didn't expect that question to come so quickly.

"I saw you and him in the library," Yang explained, "I tried goin' in, y'know, in case you needed back up, but the Gossip Club wouldn't let me through the doors."

"Well, I didn't need 'back up'," Ember tried to assure with a smile, "but thanks for the thought."

"What _did_ you talk about, though?" Yang pressed, "I thought he hated you."

"Private stuff, Yang," Ember told her.

"Oh."

Ember winced at the disappointment in Yang's voice. "What do you mean, 'oh'?"

"I just…" Yang sighed, "I thought we were passed this. Passed the half-answers and vague truths."

"Yang…" Ember shook her head, "I know I've dodged questions in the past, but this isn't that. Some things you just don't talk about publicly. What I spoke to Cardin about is, honestly, something that really should stay between me and Cardin. I highly doubt he would want me to start spreading it around."

Silence fell between them as Yang tried to dissect her strange friend and her comments. The bell rang, but neither moved. "Yeah, sure," Yang eventually decided, turning to walk away, "whatever. I'll see you in Port's, I guess."

"Yang… Yang!" Ember called after the blonde, but Yang didn't stop. _God… fucking damn it…_ Ember's rubbed her scar and headed to her own class. _Today just keeps getting worse…_

* * *

Yang didn't speak to Ember in Port's class, or at lunch. Ember left her last class of the day and headed straight for the parking lot, not thinking she would even see the blonde. She was surprised to see Yang leaning against the suped-up muscle car. Ember approached and they shared an uneasy stare. "So… do you still want to go downtown?" Ember asked.

"Maybe…" Yang shrugged, "I don't have anything going on today, and I'm still kinda hoping you'll open up for once."

"Yang, I told you that's private…" Ember sighed, "I can't just talk about it in public."

"Okay then," Yang nodded, climbing into Ember's car. Ember raised her eyebrow and followed suit, wondering where this was going. Once they were inside, Yang spoke up again, "now we're in your soundproofed car, so what did you and Cardin talk about?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Ember frowned.

"Why do I have to drag every nugget of information out of you!?" Yang's voice rose in anger.

"Well, what about you!?" Ember returned, "Why do I have to be an open book while you get to keep the troubled past that gave you all your trust issues to yourself!?"

"That is not the same thing!" Yang argued.

"How can you even know!?" Ember shot back, "If you and I had a discussion like the one I had with Cardin, you wouldn't want me spilling all the beans either!"

"Well, how can _I_ know _that_ when you won't tell me what's going on so I can judge for myself!?" Yang pressed.

" _For Christssakes Yang, his father died in my mother's club last night!"_ Ember finally shouted.

The revelation stunned Yang. A quiet, "Oh…" was all she offered as she officially felt like shit.

"Yeah. 'Oh'. I don't know what you _expected_ to hear, but I bet that wasn't it, was it?" Ember ranted, still angry.

"Sorry…"

"You _are_ aware that just because we're friends, I don't _owe_ you telling you these things, right? Especially when other people would like to keep it quiet?" Ember continued, "Not to mention _you_ keeping quiet about your own history. Why doesn't _that_ go two ways!?"

Yang shrunk in her seat. "Y-your right, I… shit…"

Ember didn't have anything more to say this time. She reached up to rub her aching scar.

Yang noticed the action. "You don't get angry often, but when you do you always rub that same spot. Why?"

"You're really going to ask for that kind of information _right now_?" Ember scolded, "after what we just screamed at each other about?"

"No, you're right… I'm sorry…" Yang shrunk further.

They stayed quiet, looking away from each other as they stewed in their emotions. " _I'm_ sorry," Ember eventually offered.

"For what?" Yang asked.

"For popping my lid at you like that," Ember answered, "I didn't mean to lose my temper, it's just been a stressful day."

"But you're right," Yang defended, "I made some bad assumptions and pushed too far."

"Well… maybe not all of your assumptions are bad…" Ember confessed quietly, Cardin's words echoing in her mind.

Yang looked over to her. "What does that mean?"

"It means that… While Cardin's dad _was_ something we talked about, it wasn't all we talked about, and…" Ember fought with herself for the truth to come out, "it's the other thing that _I_ don't want to talk about."

In the end, her fear of what Yang would think won out, and she cursed herself for it.

"That's fine," Yang's answer surprised her.

"It's really not…" Ember shook her head.

"After what _we_ just discussed, I haven't earned to right to press that information out of you," Yang defended her decision. Another beat of awkward silence passed. "I think I should go back to the dorm…"

"Yeah, I don't think either of us are in the mood for Dale and Jester's…" Ember nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow…?" Yang asked cautiously. _Are we still friends?_

"Yeah. Sure," Ember sported a small smile. _If you want to be._

With that, Yang exited the car and Ember used all her willpower not to scream at herself. Instead, she bashed her head against her steering wheel. "Ow…" she rubbed her brow piercings, "that was stupid…"

Next she pulled out her phone and called her mother. Cinder picked up immediately. "Hey honey. You make it to the arcade?"

"I haven't left the school yet, actually," Ember answered.

"What happened?"

"A lot. And somehow not very much at the same time," Ember pinched the bridge of her nose. "I need to blow off steam. I'm gunna go to the range today."

"I know how you feel," Cinder admitted, "mind if I join you?"

"I'd love that," Ember smiled.

"I'll see you soon," Cinder promised, "Maybe we can rent some of the bigger guns today, maybe even that sniper rifle you seem to love so much."

The thought alone already had Ember feeling slightly better. "I love you, mom."

Cinder smiled as well. Just hearing those words from her daughter always helped her own mood. "I love you too, my little flame."


	9. Troubles Ahead

Ember, Cinder and Emerald were firing shots down the range. No competitions had been called, at least not yet, allowing mother and daughter to vent about their day to each other.

"Maybe you should just tell her," Cinder commented in response to Ember's story.

"I'm trying _not_ to scare away, remember?" Ember argued.

" _You_ were never scared," Cinder pointed out.

"Well, you never exactly hid it from me, either," Ember reminded her, "I think I saw my first dead body before I knew you weren't - I mean that… you didn't give birth to me. Yang's had nineteen years to build one of those annoying 'moral codes'. You know I have to drive the speed limit when she's in my car now?"

"Oh no, that sounds absolutely terrible," Cinder dryly teased, "how dare you be safe."

"Hey, it's not like you drive less than a hundred on the freeway!" Ember countered.

"Yes. And I'm a terrible role model," Cinder reasoned.

"You're not that bad," Ember frowned, "sure, if CPS had a television view of certain days of my childhood they'd shit themselves, but I turned out okay in the end?"

"…you truly know how to make me feel like such a wonderful parent…"

"You are, though!" Ember looked her mother in the eye, "You saved my life! You protected me and taught me to be strong! Maybe not everyone would agree with your methods, but isn't that how we live most of our life?"

Cinder met her daughter's sincere gaze.

"I love you, and I couldn't ask for a better mom," Ember smiled.

Cinder smiled warmly in return. "I love you too, my little flame."

"This may be out of line," Emerald interrupted, "but you two are _adorable_."

Cinder blushed fiercely, "Eyes on your own range, Ms. Sustrai!"

Emerald shrunk a little at her boss's harsh voice. "As you wish…"

"So… getting away from _that_ ," Ember spoke up, "how was _your_ day, mom?"

"No one I spoke to knows anything about anything," Cinder complained, "the attackers were covered head to toe. People remember a cat mask, a bird mask, and a bull mask. We found a bird mask with Tanager, and we don't know how many other accomplices were there or what masks they may have been wearing."

"I still don't understand why they didn't take anything," Emerald spoke up.

"If it's a takeover, they probably still want the club for themselves," Ember theorized.

"Plausible," Cinder nodded, "This weakens me, but it's not irreparable. If they outright destroyed the club _or_ the product it wouldn't be there for them later."

"Well, maybe Tanager's phone can tell us something," Ember consoled.

Cinder nodded thoughtfully. "Despite my reservations about you following in my footsteps, I must admit that was good work with Cardin."

"I told you I could do it," Ember smiled.

"I always knew you could, little flame," Cinder admitted, "I think I'm done with pistols. You ready to rent the big stuff?"

"Yes!" Ember nodded enthusiastically.

Cinder chuckled. "I'll be right back," She ruffled her daughter's hair as she passed.

" _Moom!_ " Ember shook her head and quickly fixed her hair with a pout. As Cinder walked away, Ember noticed Emerald smirking at the interaction. "Y'know, I can't remember the last time we were in a room without mom there as well," she called out to the green-haired bodyguard.

"I think I watched you once, when you were super small," Emerald noted, "Cinder had something to do, and you were too young to leave on your own."

"So," Ember turned to Emerald, "Just what _are_ your intentions with my mother?"

Emerald's ability to turn such a bright red was impressive considering her skin-tone. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about! She's my boss, that's all!"

"Uh-huh…" Ember smirked and held out her pointer finger. She started panning it over the entire room, "Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop-boop-boop. Boop-boop-boop. Boop. Boop." Her 'boops' got louder as her finger pointed Emerald's direction.

"Okay, what the _hell_ are you doing?" Emerald crossed her arms.

"Oh, this?" Ember held up the offending finger, "It's just my bullshit detector."

Emerald groaned and turned away.

"So, what's the deal here?" Ember pressed.

"There is no 'deal' here," Emerald defended, "Even if I wanted there to be one, she's…"

Ember stepped closer to Emerald, a smirk on her face as she gestured for her to continue.

Emerald finally caved, "she's beautiful and confident and _powerful_ … and I'm none of those things. Cinder can do whatever she wants, pick _whoever_ she wants… why the hell would she pick _me_? Why would she want _me_ …?"

"I think if you talked to her, you might be surprised," Ember assured.

"And if you're wrong?" Emerald asked, "she wouldn't want me around at all after that…"

Ember heard the door open behind her. "If you keep dancing around the subject without taking action, she'll find someone else on her own eventually. And then you'll _really_ lose her," she spoke quickly and quietly.

"Ember! Would you come grab something?" Cinder called from the door.

"Just think about it," Ember smiled at Emerald before walking away to help her mother.

* * *

Ember knew she had to make a decision regarding Yang. They hadn't met before class, leaving Ember to stew in her thoughts well into her first class. The only break she received was when Cardin approached her.

"Did you bring the phone?" Ember opened, taking control of the conversation before it started.

"Of course I did," he pulled out the device in question, "It's locked, but I bet you have 'people', huh?"

"We can handle it," Ember took the phone, "Thank you, Cardin."

"Whatever…" Cardin frowned and walked away.

Ember shrugged him off. She knew he didn't think highly of her. Fear and a mutual distaste for the people responsible kept him in line, and Ember knew that would have to be enough. She pocketed the phone and her mind returned to her _other_ issue.

Yang.

Ember didn't want to lose her friend and possible sister. But she had a feeling Yang would appreciate the truth about as much as she would appreciate learning Ember had been less than truthful to begin with. She had put herself in a no-win situation. Ember knew the best option was likely to come clean, _maybe Yang will even forgive me if I'm honest. Then again, maybe she won't…_

The alternative was to try and keep hiding the truth from Yang, but she doubted that was permanent. The blonde would eventually learn the truth on her own, it wasn't exactly a secret who really ran Vale. And if Yang didn't learn the truth from Ember, then what would happen between the two of them?

There was a third option, Ember hesitantly admitted to herself. Letting Yang go. It may even be the best option, above telling her the truth. Considering recent events, it might be the safest option to distance herself so Yang could never be a target. Of course, letting Yang go meant giving her up, abandoning their friendship. And then if Yang _was_ Ember's sister, could the bridge be rebuilt later?

Ember didn't have the answers she needed to make a proper decision. But she _had_ to make a decision, and soon.

* * *

"Yeah, mom, I got it," Ember spoke through her phone's receiver during the first break, "Are you going to pick it up?"

"No," Cinder answered through the line, "that might attract attention. Just bring it home after school."

"Kay," Ember nodded, "Love you, mom."

"I love you, too, honey."

Ember ended the call and sighed. Another long day at school stretched before her, and she couldn't wait to get back home. A timid "Hey, Ember," brought her attention behind her.

Yang stood there, looking slightly nervous. "Hey," Ember replied quietly.

Taking the unspoken permission, Yang stepped forward next to her to continue the conversation. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"I told you, you have nothing to apologize for," Ember maintained, "it's a bad situation all around."

There was a minute or so where both women were silent.

"Y'know, we won't get past the awkwardness if we don't try," Yang broke it.

"What do you mean?" Ember asked.

"I mean, do you wanna cash the raincheck from yesterday?" Yang proposed, "go downtown, hang out… try and put it behind us?"

"Yang…" Ember began somberly, knowing this was her chance to do _something_.

Ember didn't expect Yang's expression at her tone. The blonde's face fell completely, and Ember realized something. She was Yang's only friend just as much as Yang was hers. Yang likely had the same fears about losing that friendship that Ember had struggled with since the day before.

_Fuck it,_ Ember decided, _What's the point of being a crime lord if you can't do whatever you want?_ "I think that's a great idea. As long as you don't mind me swinging by my house first?"

Yang smiled, "Course I don't! I'll meet you by your car after school?"

"Yeah," Ember nodded.

The bell rang for class and the two went their separate ways. A voice in the back of Ember's mind told her this was a mistake. She was only putting off the ultimate decision, not dealing with it as she should. She shoved that nagging voice down into the depths of her thoughts. _It's only one more day. What's the worst that can happen?_

* * *

Ember had called ahead so her mother was aware of her changing plans. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Cinder asked as her daughter dropped off the phone after school.

"No…" Ember admitted, "but when I tried to call her off today, she was just so… down. She needs a friend."

"She also needs the truth, if she's going to stick around you," Cinder stressed.

"I know, I just need to figure out _how_ to tell her," Ember assured.

"Just be safe," Cinder sighed, "We still don't know what the attacker's next plan is."

"I know. I will be. I am!" Ember hugged Cinder goodbye.

Cinder returned the gesture, hesitant to let her daughter go.

Ember ran back to the car and buckled in, looking to Yang. "You ready to go?"

"Yup! To the arcade!" Yang pointed forward.

_Dale and Jester's… too many dark, quiet corners…_ "Y'know, we don't have to stick to the arcade?"

Yang looked over in confusion. "I mean, yeah of course, but where else is there?"

"There's lots of stuff in that same mall," Ember told her, "A Lego shop, a two story bookstore, a couple game shops for _every_ flavor of game, some really cool restaurants… an ice cream parlor to _die_ for!" _All of which are either well lit, crowded, or both._

"Okay, then," Yang nodded, smiling, "expanding horizons. I dig it! So long as we don't use that alley…"

"Don't worry," Ember assured as she pulled out of her driveway, "That alley's just close to the arcade. If I'm doing the whole mall, I'm using the parking garage anyway."

Ember's home was a lot closer to downtown than the school was, so even driving the speed limit they were there in no time at all. When they arrived, Ember drove through the parking garage toward a spot that was behind an automatic gate. A button on her keys opened the gate up.

"Oh, let me guess," Yang smirked, "your mom has a controlling interest in the whole mall?"

"No," Ember smirked right back, "the construction company that rebuilt the parking garage a few years back, however…"

"Ahhh," Yang nodded, "gotcha."

It didn't take long for them to settle on their first stop. Neo Politan's Neapolitan had a line nearly out the door, even in the colder weather as fall approached in full force. Yang raised an eyebrow at the 'Grade B' sign by the front door.

"Don't worry about that," Ember assured, " _One_ customer was poisoned a few years ago and she hasn't been able to shake it. It wasn't even her fault! At least… I don't think it was…"

"You don't _think_?" Yang raised her eyebrow further.

Ember was quiet for a moment. "Just don't insult her."

_Comforting_ , Yang thought to herself.

The ice cream turned out to be worth the risk. That Neo girl was a master at her craft. Yang didn't even recall ordering! It was a bit of a rush, but she was pretty sure she was just handed ice cream that tasted perfect for her and pushed out of the store. She and Ember took to wandering while they finished their frozen treat.

"Okayy… would you rather lose your fingers, or lose your toes?" Yang asked.

"Hmm…" Ember thought over her answer, "Toes. Feet have decent prosthetics and I kinda need my fingers to be, well, _fingers_." Ember mimed a pistol to prove her point.

"That makes sense," Yang nodded.

"Would _you_ rather…" Ember took her turn, "looooose… your right arm or your left arm?"

Yang blinked. "For some reason, that question makes me uncomfortable…"

Ember snorted, "you're weird."

"Says the girl with eleven chunks of metal in her skin," Yang quipped. She turned to look at her friend, "That I know of anyway."

Ember gasped and crossed her arms over her chest, "Oh no! You discovered my dark secret!"

Yang's eyes flicked between Ember's eyes and Ember's chest. "Seriously?"

"Fuck no, my mom would kill me!" Ember laughed, "though I might be getting a tongue stud in a few months for my birthday."

"I don't get how you can do that," Yang shook her head.

"Everybody thinks the pain is so bad, but really, it's only the worst pinch you'll ever have in your life. It's gone as quickly as it comes," Ember explained. "Maybe we should get _you_ one! At least you won't need a parent's permission. An earring, then we can find a nice piece for it. Something yellow, maybe purple."

"I'll… think about it," Yang replied, making no promises.

"No pressure," Ember backed off, "I know it's not everybody's thing."

The ice creams were soon finished, and they spent some time inside of one of the game shops. Yang had her eye on one of the card games, prompting Ember to buy two packs and 'lend' one to Yang so they could learn to play together. It was as they left this shop that Yang noticed Ember was starting to get distracted by something. "Hey, you okay?"

"Hm? Yeah!" Ember quickly nodded.

"You sure?" Yang pressed.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Ember assured. "I think the Lego store is nearby!"

"Sounds like fun," Yang smiled.

As they began to walk away, Ember sneakily cast her gaze back over her shoulder.

* * *

Adam was busy planning his next step with Ilia and Tyrian. Blake was invited to join them, but she needed time to herself. She ended up leaving the house and wandering into downtown Vale. _The more people the better,_ she thought, _getting lost in a crowd will make it easier to think._

Something happened she didn't expect, however. When she arrived at the mall, she caught sight of none other than Ember Fall herself, Cinder's daughter and the supposed reason for the organization's apparent decline. Blake knew what Adam would want. She should have done _something,_ take her or perhaps even attack her. She couldn't, though. Ember was just acting like a teenage girl, eating ice cream with a friend and talking about unimportant nonsense. Blake didn't even know if Ember was aware of her mother's business…

So the dark-haired woman settled on eavesdropping. At least if Adam asked, she could come up with a reason she didn't attack. _Especially_ if she did happen to learn something useful. She stuck to crowds and grabbed a newspaper from a nearby garbage can to use on benches and hide her face. All the while, she strained her ears to listen to whatever Ember and her friend were talking about. So far, just normal conversation between schoolmates.

Everything changed when they left the card game shop. Blake kept an eye on the door for when the pair left, not daring to enter herself. It seemed a pointless precaution as Blake's eyes met Ember's directly when the younger girl stepped out of the store. Blake's gaze flitted back down to the newspaper, hoping to god she was wrong.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Hm? Yeah!"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! I think the Lego store is nearby!"

"Sounds like fun!"

Blake dared to peek her eyes over the paper. She saw Ember patting herself down. "Crap, I think I dropped something in the game shop," Ember announced, "Why don't you go ahead? Lego's just around the corner, I'll meet you there."

"Sure, sounds good," her friend nodded and walked away.

Ember started to turn, and Blake preemptively buried her eyes into the newspaper. She didn't need to look to _know_ Ember was approaching her. She could feel a presence walking her way, hear the heavy bootfalls. Each one like a beat of her own speeding heart. It took all her will not to shake as she screamed on the inside.

"That newspaper is two days old."

That cold voice was unlike the tone Ember was using with her friend, and sent shivers down Blake's spine. Blake slowly looked at the paper's date to confirm. "So it is…"

"Which you would know if you were actually reading it," Ember continued.

Blake set down the paper, accepting that she had been caught red-handed. "So I would…"

Ember stared Blake down. "Why are you following me?"

Blake did the only thing she could think of in this situation, and stayed quiet.

"Are you one of the people who attacked the club?" Ember pressed.

Blake maintained her silence, though she was pretty sure she was sweating in her seat.

"You clearly don't have the confidence to be in charge," Ember noted, "Do you?"

Blake's entire being went toward controlling her breathing.

"I'd like a verbal answer sometime this _year_ ," Ember's voice turned sharp.

"N-no…" Blake sputtered despite herself, "I'm… I'm not in charge…"

"Like I said, that's obvious," Ember's unblinking eyes never lost their focus, "because _this_ is a very dumb idea."

Blake looked up in confusion, finally meeting Ember's eye. "W-what do you mean?"

"Why do you think I'm _here_? Because of the people. Because of the _witnesses_ ," Ember pointed out, "you can't attack me here."

"T-that means I'm safe too," Blake deduced.

"You're right," Ember confirmed, "For now, we get to walk our separate ways. But I know your face now, and _that_ is your mistake."

Blake's eyes widened. Ember was right, and she had let her guard down.

The daughter Fall smirked. "See you around, stranger," she teased as she turned to walk away.

"I didn't want this!" Blake called out quickly. Ember stopped and turned back around. "I didn't want… war…" Blake confessed. "I didn't seek you out, but I _did_ start following you because… because I needed to see. I needed to see what we're fighting against…"

Ember digested the information slowly. "You… you doubt, don't you?"

"Of course not!" Blake defended quickly.

Ember didn't believe her. "If there's room for these questions to creep into your heart, maybe you should ask them. And if you're afraid to ask, then your first question should be 'why?' Why are you afraid to ask?"

"Ember! What's taking so long!?" Yang called to her friend from down by the turn to the next store.

"Sorry!" Ember called back, her voice light and cheerful again, "this girl picked up that thing I dropped, I had to get it from her!"

"Well, hurry up ya dork! They got some really cool models in stock!" Yang waited for Ember.

Ember shot Blake one last glare before walking away. Blake breathed a sigh of relief, though by no means was all her tension gone. She watched the teenaged duo turn the corner while the thoughts churned in her head. Thoughts that were interrupted by another voice she feared to hear now.

"That was sloppy," Adam announced his presence.

Blake spun in her chair, looking up at her boyfriend. "Adam! How long have you been there!?"

"Not long," Adam answered, "Once you got caught, I stepped back to make sure the same didn't happen to me. Why, did you tell her something?"

"Of course not!" Blake defended.

"You still showed her your face," Adam reminded her, "Which means we'll have to speed up our plans. Let's go."

Blake wasted no time standing up and walking the way Adam directed. Adam himself followed close behind, ensuring the dark-haired woman didn't stray. He spared a look back toward the corner Ember and her friend had turned out of sight. His eyes narrowed as the gears turned in his head.


	10. Stepping Up

The next day, Ember's mind continued to be consumed by stress and worry. The attackers would likely up their game after Ember's encounter with the raven-haired woman in the mall. How much longer until something happened that was impossible to keep quiet? How much longer until they grew bold enough to attack her mother directly? Would Ember herself be a target?

Even putting the family business's struggles aside, she still had to come to a decision regarding Yang. The longer she put it off, the worse it would be when the truth did out. But how to bring it up? How does one tell someone their only friend is essentially mafia royalty? How does one tell someone they might be a long-lost sister? She still didn't know if Yang had a long-lost sister, the blonde still hadn't opened up about her own history.

Her phone rang, breaking Port from his current rant as everyone looked to her. She pulled out her phone and waved everyone off, stepping out of the classroom to answer. She caught eyes with Yang, who was clearly still questioning the ease that Ember got away with these things. She shook it off for now, stepping into the hall and pulling her phone to her ear. "Hey mom, everything okay?"

"No," Cinder wasted no time, "I want you home."

Ember immediately knew how serious this was. "What happened?"

"They attacked again," Cinder answered, "We'll talk about it when you get here, but please…"

"Okay, okay," Ember tried to assuage her mother, "I'm on my way."

Back in the classroom, Yang kept one eye on the door. The longer it took for Ember to return, the deeper her frown became. When the unmistakable sound of Ember's car came in through the windows, everyone knew Ember had left school.

* * *

_Earlier that day_

Ilia peeked through the windshield of the van she, Adam, and Blake were preparing in. Beyond the alley they parked was one of Vale's many banks, and according to Adam this bank was highly important to Cinder's money laundering system. "Seems like a big step up," Ilia mentioned.

"We can handle it," Adam assured her.

"I just thought we would hit one or two more small targets first," Ilia shrugged.

"We've had to speed things up," Adam explained, shooting a glare at Blake.

There was a knock at the back door of the van, prompting the three the put on their masks, with Ilia also shouldering a backpack. The door was opened revealing Tyrian, already in his scorpion mask, holding a scared looking bank teller. "W-what the hell is going on!? What do you want with _me_!?" the teller was frightened.

"Shh, shh," Adam tried to sooth the man, placing on hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, we don't care about _you._ We just want inside. You can get us inside, right?"

"W-what are you going to do?" The teller asked, a little calmer.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Adam told him, "Just do as we say, and you can walk away."

"A-and if I don't…?"

Tyrain giggled and pressed a knife into the teller's side, answering his question effectively.

Watching this made Blake frown behind her mask. _If there's room for these questions to creep into your heart, maybe you should ask them._ She couldn't deny the results, however. The teller led them to the banks back door and swiped his employee keycard to open it. The four members of Adam's little gang got inside with relative ease.

This is not to say the back door was lacking for security. It opened into the main security room, employees having to walk right by armed guards to get to work. However, human complacency was a far better and more reliable flaw than any digital security glitch. The guards simply weren't prepared for four armed, masked individuals to stride confidently into the room and quickly control and disarm them. "Mr. Scorpion, please keep this room secure," Adam ordered.

With Tyrian happily lording over the guards with his many knives, Blake and Ilia followed Adam into the main room. Adam announced their presence by firing his shotgun into the air. Everyone's attention was immediately focused on them. Adam leveled his shotgun toward the tellers, focusing on them while Blake jumped onto the counter and aimed her Uzi to control the rest of the crowd.

Ilia walked up to one of the tellers, asking them, "Who here knows how to open the vault?" The teller pointed at the door to the managers office with a shaky finger. Inside the office, the manager waited with a revolver pointed at the door, ready to fire at any moment. The door opened, and the manager began to pull the trigger… only to back off. Ilia had planned ahead, and was currently using her teller as a meat shield.

"Lose the gun," Ilia warned, pressing the metal of her silenced pistol against her shield's neck.

"Okay!" the manager dropped her gun. Nothing was worth the lives of her employees.

"Open the vault," Ilia ordered, still using her teller as her ultimatum. She followed the manager to the vault door, which the manager promptly opened. Ilia ushered the manager and her shield back into Adam's care so she could handle her own business unimpeded.

While Ilia was busy in the vault, police cars pulled up out front. Blake spotted the lights first, calling out, "Mr. Bull!"

Adam looked up to see the cops outside. "Don't worry, this doesn't change a thing."

" _Come out of the bank with your hands up!_ " A megaphone enhanced voice was heard through the closed doors, " _We have you surrounded! There is no escape!_ "

"Nothing?" Blake pressed.

" _Nothing_ ," Adam insisted.

Ilia emerged from the vault sans backpack, telling Adam, "We're good to go."

"Grab a teller," Adam instructed the two girls, taking the manager for himself. A shout of "GET OUT!" and a gunshot got the rest of the crowd to chaotically rush out of the front door while the three took their human shields out the back. On the way they passed Tyrian still terrorizing the guards. His manic personality was starting to make Blake think the assassin partook in the product his family was once famous for in Vale.

"Mr. Scorpion, grab a guard. We're on our way out," Adam told him.

"But which one?" Tyrian pondered, his knife pointing to each one individually. "Eenie, meenie, miney…"

"Just pick one!" Adam barked.

"Oh, fine…" Tyrian grabbed the closest one and kept his knife to the man's side, "You're no fun today."

The group finally stepped out of the backdoor to meet a few cop cars crammed into the alley. "Let the hostages go!" one of the cops commanded.

"Ready to run?" Adam whispered to his group. A few nods met his vision. "Ms. Lizard?"

Ilia kept hold of her hostage while pulling a detonator out of her pocket. With a press of the button, explosives lining the bank vault, as well as a few Tyrian placed within the alley while securing their entrance, were set off. Their objective was fulfilled, and the police in the alley were disoriented in the same stroke.

In the chaos Adam's group rushed forward, pushing their shields ahead of them and breaking past the police and into the alleys. By the time any cop could give chase, the four were well on their way to safety. Ilia and Tyrian had split off, but Blake stayed with Adam perhaps a little longer than was safe, one thing burning in her mind. _If there's room for these questions to creep into your heart, maybe you should ask them._

"Adam?" Blake called out when she was sure they were out of sight, taking off her mask.

"What is it?" Adam picked up her worried tone.

"We… we weren't actually going to kill anybody, right? If they didn't do what we said?" Blake asked, "I mean, I understand intimidation, but those tellers were innocent. They probably weren't even aware of anything to do with Cinder."

Adam looked around to make sure they were truly safe before removing his own mask to look Blake in the eye. "Blake, we are trying to change this city. Save Vale's underworld. Things aren't so simple."

Blake crossed her arms, "What do you mean 'aren't so simple'?"

"Do you understand the enormity of our endeavor?" Adam spoke calmly, caressing Blake's cheek in that way that made her heart flutter. "I never said our task would be easy, but it _must_ be done."

"Does it…?" Blake asked, hesitantly pulling Adam's hand away. "The deeper we go, the more it seems Cinder is _far_ from weak."

"How many times must I assure you we are doing the right thing?" Adam strained to hold back his irritation. He sighed deeply, "that woman no longer makes decisions for the sake of her people, but one person in particular. Her spoiled 'daughter'. She doesn't care if the rest of us suffer for it."

"Who is suffering?" Blake asked. Outside of Adam's arguments, she's never really seen or heard anyone complain.

"My love… don't you trust me?" Adam pleaded.

It was in that moment something clicked inside Blake. She didn't trust Adam. Somewhere in this fight she _had_ begun doubting its necessity, and she finally admitted it to herself. But what _was_ Adam's actual motivation? And what could _she_ possibly do? It was too late to jump ship. The real question for Blake wasn't whether or not she trusted him… but whether or not she feared him.

And she did. "Of course I trust you," Blake lied.

With the conversation over, Adam's mind returned to the task at hand. "We should move. We're still too close to the bank."

Blake nodded and followed him, her mind in turmoil. Her internal struggle may have ended, but that didn't mean she was suddenly confident enough to defy Adam. She had to be careful to avoid his wrath and to avoid revealing her new mindset to him, Tyrian, or Ilia, all while trying to figure out just what to do next.

* * *

Ember paced in front of the table her mother sat opposite of, listening to Cinder pass on the news. "They didn't even steal anything? They destroyed it all?"

"Every single dollar," Cinder nodded, "causing massive damage to the bank itself."

"Who even knows how important that bank was?" Ember continued to pace, "I thought that info was kept close to the chest."

"It wasn't common information, no," Cinder confirmed.

"So the person leading the attack is high up?" Ember asked.

"Not necessarily," Emerald spoke up, "Stag knew. If he _was_ working with someone else, he could have told them."

Ember stopped pacing, but still didn't sit down, tapping her foot. "What does this mean? What does this do to us?"

"Until we can clean our dirty money again, _every one's_ wallets are taking a hit, including ours," Cinder explained. "We still have enough legitimate businesses that we aren't _completely_ screwed, but most people are scrambling to preserve their own lifestyle without kicking money up the ladder."

"Why didn't they attack those business first then?" Ember wondered aloud.

"I imagine _you_ scared them into accelerating plans," Cinder managed a small smile, "After running into that 'Blake' girl. Which is certainly good for us."

Ember spun to face her mother, "You found her?"

"Blake Belladonna," Cinder nodded, "she works as a dealer in one of our casinos. As in cards, not drugs. But her work attendance has been spotty recently, which makes sense."

"That means we can find her," Ember realized, "We can start fighting back!"

"Yes, but there's another problem here," Cinder pointed out.

Ember didn't ask, wanting to figure it out for herself. She was thinking for a good minute before coming to a conclusion, "we don't know who to trust, do we?"

Cinder nodded, "Because of Stag, there's no guarantee that the attackers are high level members. But because of their latest target, it is clear now that they're within this organization. Even Stag wasn't foolish enough to tell someone outside the 'family'. And lastly, because their plans are accelerating, they could decide to try and attack us directly at any moment."

"Which is why you pulled me out of school," Ember nodded in understanding. "You can still trust me?"

"Excuse me?" Cinder stood from her seat, her face showing confusion.

"You'll want to go the bank right now, right? Early damage control?" Ember deduced, "Let _me_ follow up on Blake Belladonna."

"Ember, I pulled you from school to keep you _safe_ ," Cinder sternly insisted.

"And I will be!" Ember countered, "I'll take one or two of the house guards as bodyguards to watch my back. If you didn't still trust them at least a _little_ they wouldn't still be here right now, right?"

"Ember, you don't have to do this," Cinder argued yet again.

Ember was tired of this same old conversation, walking around the table and demanding her mother's attention with a, "Mom. Listen to me. Please."

Cinder wanted nothing more than to steer her daughter away from this conversation, but it was clear how important to Ember this conversation was. So, for once, the mother decided to stay silent and listen properly.

"I know that I don't _have_ to do this," Ember told her, "I know I could do whatever I wanted, I could go on to do safer, more legal things. I know that I don't have to follow in your footsteps. _But this is what I want to do._ "

Cinder bit back her argument, taking a moment and simply asking, "Why?"

Silver eyes dropped as Ember picked up a more serious tone, "Someday you aren't going to be in charge anymore. And it _better_ be a retirement and not… you know. But someday, someone will have to stand in your place. And you can train some protégé while I go become a doctor or something, but you've made changes that have made Vale better. And someone just a _little_ bit greedier could reverse those changes and damage important partnerships.

"I love the Vale you've made," Ember continued, a smile growing on her face, "and you've built a legacy here to be proud of."

"A legacy of blood and criminal enterprise," argument broke through Cinder's lips.

" _And_ of pride, power and wealth" Ember countered, not denying her mother's argument but building on it against itself, "and I'm a part of that legacy, I'm your daughter after all. Is it really so strange I want to be the one to carry it?"

Cinder looked through her daughter's eyes and found herself sporting a small smile despite herself. "You've really thought this through."

"I have," Ember nodded.

Cinder sighed. "I still don't like the idea of you putting yourself out there like this…"

Ember began to frown.

"But," Cinder, "it does seem you haven't made this decision lightly, and we are tight on time and resources. I'll still worry every second, but if it's really what you want, what will make you happy… I won't stop you anymore."

Ember almost couldn't believe her ears. Had she really broken through? Is her mom finally accepting her choice?

"There's a sports bar on the corner of fifteenth and Amber," Cinder spoke formally, "Attached to the bar in the alley is a metal door. Knock on it, and they'll let you in. I'll make sure they're expecting you. That's the casino where Blake Belladonna worked. You should be able to learn _something_."

Ember smiled, all her effort going to staying calm and appearing professional for this moment, "Got it."

"And you'll be taking Emerald," Cinder announced.

"Ma'am?" Emerald questioned in surprise.

"The bank is very public and currently surrounded by police, including chief Calavera, I'll be fine without you," Cinder defended, "Besides, even doing grunt work she's is still my daughter, and I won't entrust her to some random bodyguard from the garden."

Emerald nodded, "As you wish."

"I won't let you down," Ember promised her mother.

Cinder smiled, "Don't fret, I'm not worried about that. Just don't get hurt."

"No promises," Ember teased with a smirk, before providing a more serious, "but I'll do my best. Love you, mom."

"I love you too, my stubborn flame," Cinder's smile grew.

Ember turned to Emerald. "Well? Let's go."

"Does this mean I get to ride in your super car?" Emerald asked, following Ember out the door.

"Oh yeah, you've never been in it," Ember realized, "I'm still driving, right?"

"I wouldn't _dream_ of trying to take control of your car from you," Emerald assured her.

"Good," Ember nodded, unlocking her car and climbing in behind the wheel. Her phone rang as she settled, and she pulled it out, frowning at the contact.

Emerald noticed Ember's mood. "Yang?"

"Yeah," Ember nodded.

"What are you going to tell her?"

That was precisely what made Ember frown. Now that she was allowed to be involved in her mother's work, things _had_ to change. No more putting the decision off. And considering how things had escalated… with a deep breath, Ember made her decision. She rejected the call.

"Ember…" Emerald was surprised.

"When this is over, I'll tell her everything," Ember explained. "Right now, she's safer at a distance from me."

Her phone rang again. Emerald raised an eyebrow. Ember let it ring and started her car. One last ping told Ember she had received a text message, which she ignored as she pulled out of the driveway.


	11. Return Fire

As with nearly every building Cinder owned, legally or otherwise, there was a private parking space for her to use in case of any visit. Ember took the liberty of using that same space once she reached the sports bar. The owner came out to meet Cinder and was surprised to find her daughter instead. He quickly shook it off, "The young Ms. Fall, this is certainly a rare treat. I wasn't aware you were a fan of this kind of establishment."

"I'm here on business," Ember announced somewhat proudly, still elated at her mother's concession.

A look of fear quickly settled on the owner's face. "I… wasn't aware you were, ah… working yet either."

"Relax, I'm not here for you or your bar," Ember assured.

Emerald had gotten out of the vehicle herself by now, standing at the entrance to the bar's alleyway. "This way. Boss," she threw on the title with a smirk. Ember followed her down the alley, leaving the bar's owner with a look of relief on his face.

There was a large metal door with a camera set above it. Ember used the side of her fist to knock on the heavy door and stood in view of the camera. The door was soon opened by the man currently running the underground casino. "Ms. Fall. We were told to expect you," he greeted, "I must say, I'm still surprised, even after seeing you here, now."

Ember nodded and shook his hand, "I assume you have some kind of office where we can talk?"

"Of course. Follow me." The manager guided them through the door, down a set of stairs and past a security gate Ember and Emerald were allowed to bypass and keep their weapons. Beyond that was the casino floor, a small place all things considered. A few tables for various card games, a roulette wheel or two and a short run of slot machines along one wall. The entire place smelled of an excess of tobacco and cheap alcohol from the installed bar in the far corner.

On the other side of the room was a small office claimed as the managers own, cut off from the rest of the room with surprisingly sound muffling walls and windows to observe the casino in operation. The manager sat down at his desk, Ember sat across from him in a visitor's seat and Emerald stood by the door fulfilling her bodyguard role. "So, to what do I owe this unique visit?"

"A card dealer of yours named Blake Belladonna," Ember answered without beating around the bush, "she's one of the people who attacked Maiden's. Reserved, long black hair, amber eyes?"

"That does sound vaguely familiar," the manager nodded.

"Vaguely?" Ember raised an eyebrow.

"Forgive me, but I haven't been here long," the manager explained, "your mother fired the man who was in charge of the casinos across Vale. I was only supposed to stand in for this location for a short while until she replaced him properly. That task one of the many that… certain events have delayed."

"Do you have any kinds of records?" Ember gestured to the filing cabinet in the corner.

The manager stood and began rifling through the files, clearly unfamiliar with however they were organized. As Ember waited, her eyes wandered to the only real movement in the space, the casino floor on the other side of the window. She wouldn't call it crowded, but it was before noon on a weekday so the three active slot machines and two busy tables probably pointed to deeper problems within the current attendees.

Ember was absent mindedly watching a card dealer take a break at the bar and excitedly speak with the bartender when the manager sat back down, bringing her attention back to the matter at hand. The manager seemed slightly afraid and was hesitant to speak. "There… seems to be a problem with our records…" he admitted slowly.

"Seriously?" Ember's voice turned cold and unamused.

"Again, I'm only here temporarily," the manager quickly defended, "and nothing seemed out of place before now! The paperwork is there for everyone else I know works here and then some, just not for a 'Blake Belladonna'."

"So what, you're trying to tell me someone might have stolen the file?" Ember asked.

"I don't know, I just know there's nothing more _I_ can tell you," the manager explained meekly.

Ember rolled her eyes. While she was trying to think of what to do next, those eyes settled back through the window onto the casino floor. Her attention was caught by the same table worker who was at the bar a few moments before, this time talking excitedly with another table worker at a half-empty blackjack game. A brief image of Beacon High's Gossip Club began to turn the cogs in the Fall daughter's mind. She stood and stared through the window as her thoughts took shape, the workers finally noticing her staring and scurrying off to their actual work.

Emerald stepped beside Ember, looking over the room as well. "What are you thinking?" the bodyguard asked.

"I'm thinking that in a place like this," Ember answered, "gossip is worth its weight in gold. Maybe Blake did steal her own file, but she can't steal the knowledge from the heads of nosey co-workers."

Emerald smiled, _she really is right at home in this line of work._ "What's the play?"

"Gather them around the bar," Ember ordered.

"Why the bar?" Emerald wondered.

"We don't want it to feel like an interrogation," Ember explained, "We want them comfortable. We want them to gossip."

* * *

"What, the quiet girl?"

"Ohh, yeah I know her."

"If she weren't so obviously insecure, I would have accused her of thinking she was better than the rest of us."

Ember smiled. She knew handling these girls in a similar way she had handled Nebula and her gang in the past would work wonders. A relaxed setting, a friendly smile, and the promise of free drinks did the job. Two of the three table workers came to the bar, and the addition of the bartender made three eagerly flapping mouths surrounding Ember and giving her the information that she needed.

"What makes you say that?" Ember asked in response to the last comment, keeping her friendly demeanor and taking a casual sip of her perfectly non-alcoholic milk.

The three girls shared a knowing smirk. The one that decided herself as 'lead gossiper' turned back to Ember and told her in a mocking tone, " _She_ was dating the _boss_."

"The old boss?" Ember asked quickly for clarification. She was met with nods. "Oh, how scandalous!" Ember's reaction may have been slightly overdramatic, but the gossiping table workers ate it up.

"I don't even know why," the bartender spoke, "the man was honestly an ass."

"To you, but he played her like a damn fiddle," one of the table workers responded.

"Do you think they're still together?" Ember asked next.

"Not if she's grown just one more braincell or a tad bit of confidence," the lead gossiper noted, "but I somehow doubt _that's_ happened. I think she's only been to work once or twice since Adam was canned a few weeks ago."

"What's a common work week?" Ember asked out of one-part seeking context and one-part genuine curiosity.

"All seven days a week for me," the bartender told her.

"I get a day off every two weeks if I'm lucky," the lead gossiper nodded.

"If it weren't for Blake taking off, we'd have just enough employees for a normal work week for all of us," the last gossiper complained, "but even before, she got away with shit because Adam saw… I don't even know what, in her. Maybe she was just the equivalent of a sick puppy to him. Something he could own because he gave her some attention."

Ember spotted a small crowd of new customers enter the space, giving her the perfect excuse the cut out of this conversation, having gotten all she was going to get. "Looks like you girls have to get to work, and I should probably be taking off too." The two table workers darted off to their respective tables and Ember downed the rest of her milk before re-joining Emerald by the door.

"Anything good?" Emerald asked.

"I think so. At least another lead to chase," Ember told her, "apparently Blake was dating the old boss, the one mom canned. Adam something."

"Adam Taurus?" Emerald crossed her arms, "I actually know where he lives. His name came up while I was hunting down info on Blake."

"You're the one who found out where she worked?" Ember questioned.

"Yeah," Emerald nodded, "I just returned to the house to report when Cinder heard about the bank. Then you and I ended up here."

"Speaking of reporting in, I probably should," Ember fished out her phone, "Then we'll go check out Adam's house. If Blake's still dating him, he may be involved as well."

* * *

One quick call to her mom and one short drive later, Ember was parking in an alley across from Adam's house. She knew how, shall we say, _noticeable_ her car was and decided it wasn't smart to even drive down his street in it. Her and Emerald stepped out of the car and checked their weapons, just in case. "You ready?" Emerald asked.

"I've been ready for years," Ember nodded.

The stalked across the street, keeping a careful eye on their surroundings. A black van occupied the space in front of the house and Emerald mentally noted it had no license plate. She kept one hand on her pistol grip as Ember knocked on the door.

"It's about _time_!" An annoyed voice sounded off as the door opened, "Where _have_ you… Oh!" An almost freakishly tall and thin man with a sullen face and a scorpion tail hanging off his necklace opened the door, who seemed maybe a little _too_ surprised to see who was visiting.

Ember had been given a brief description of Adam, enough to know this man wasn't him. "Hello," Ember greeted with a false smile, "May we come inside?"

"I don't like letting strangers into my home," The thin man quickly excused.

Without dropping her smile, Ember told him with a voice dripping of warning, "This isn't your home and don't pretend you don't know _exactly_ who we represent. Emerald?"

Without missing a beat, Emerald drew her gun and forced the man back through the threshold, following him in and keeping him against one wall. Ember followed inside after them, letting an eye pass around the room. It seemed in order at first glance, but this strange man's presence and his dodgy nature raised several red flags. "If he so much as twitches, put him on the ground."

"Yes, ma'am," Emerald's smile was getting more and more genuine.

With the creepy man secure, Ember began to scan the room carefully. She quickly spotted a photo on the wall of a man that matched Adam's description sitting with Blake in one of the casino offices. Next to that was an ancient newspaper sporting one of the few publicly existing images of Cinder herself. There seemed to be strange punctures right over the crime lord's face, another bright red flag.

The rest of the home seemed fairly normal, until Ember reached a locked door. _Now what's hiding back here?_ "I'm guessing you won't help me get through this door?"

The thin man only sneered, keeping his mouth shut.

"I didn't think so," Ember smirked. She took a step back, recalled a very fun day in her training with the police instructor, raised her heavy boot and kicked the door in. "There's a basement," Ember called out to Emerald, "are you good up here?"

"I've got this," Emerald answered, "go ahead."

Ember descended the basement stairs and flicked on the lights to see the reason the door was locked. The blueprint for the bank was still on the table with blast-points clearly marked, and right there on top of it was one of the animal masks sported by the attackers, a silver motif of a scorpion.

Upstairs, Emerald was locked in a staring contest with the man, until she took a concerned peek toward the basement door. The man took his chance, and in the brief moment Emerald looked away he pulled a knife out from the back of his belt. The bodyguard's eyes returned in time to witness the man slice at her hand, causing her to fire widely before losing her grip on it. Successfully disarming her, the man rushed and buried the blade into Emerald's stomach.

Back downstairs again, Ember reacted the moment she heard a gunshot. She pulled out Crescent Rose as she dashed back up the stairs. She arrived at the top to see the man wrench his blade out of Emerald and let her fall to the floor. A familiar ache assaulted Ember's temple as she seethed under the surface. Silver eyes met the man's almost cheerful dark irises.

Ember raised her gun as the man threw his blade like some kind of wild west quickdraw. Ember lost, but the blade buried itself non-critically in her shoulder, leaving the man disarmed and Ember still capable of shooting. With her anger giving her a kind of focus, she managed to shoot the man once in the shoulder and once in the opposite thigh, dropping him to one leg. Before he could recover, she bolted over to him and knocked him out with the butt of Crescent Rose.

With the man taken care of, she dropped next to a barely conscious Emerald and pulled out her phone. "Come on, stay with me," Ember pleaded as she called an ambulance, cursing herself for allowing this to happen. Once the ambulance was on its way and Emerald was passed out while thankfully breathing, if lightly, all Ember could do was wait and come down from the adrenaline high.

As the ache in her scar faded, she suddenly remembered the knife sticking into her shoulder. Her very first criminal battle damage, a moment that she might have seen as a rite of passage in another situation. With everything else sobering her mood, she was only left with the pain. She reached up to pull it out before remembering hearing something about leaving blades in to stem blood loss.

So instead, she looked to the knife-happy man currently laid out on the floor. The ache returned and she began to picture his future. By the time the ambulance got there, she was sufficiently angry enough to regain that unique brand of focus Ember grew alongside it. The paramedics entered the home to see one bleeding woman and one man bound with duct tape and ready to be dragged away, with the Fall daughter standing over the latter.

"There's only one patient here," Ember confirmed for them, and only stuck around long enough to make sure Emerald made it into the ambulance before fetching her car and throwing her new captive in the trunk.

* * *

_A few hours later_

Ember found herself staring at the sleeping Emerald through a convenient viewing window into the latter's hospital room. Thankfully Emerald's injury wasn't as life threatening as it looked, though recovery still looked like it would take a while. Apparently, just another few inches in a given direction and she wouldn't have survived long enough for the ambulance to arrive, a fact that didn't make Ember feel any better.

"There you are!"

Ember's attention turned to her mother, who was walking up to her with a look of concern. "I stopped by your assigned room, but you weren't there," Cinder continued.

"My legs still work just fine," Ember spoke rather cynically, "and thanks to the pain meds, I only feel a little sore in my shoulder." She rubbed the spot, feeling the gauze patch covering her stiches.

Cinder fell in next to her daughter, also looking through the window to Emerald's sleeping form. In an attempt to talk about anything else, Cinder informed her daughter, "Our new friend is safe in our back room. That was good work with Adam's place."

"Was it?" Ember asked pointedly.

Cinder sighed, seeing this was unavoidable. "It's not your fault, little flame," she insisted, "it's a dangerous life and she did her job, just like any other bodyguard from around the house would."

"I understand this life is dangerous, but she's not just _any_ other bodyguard, right?" Ember raised her eyes to her mother's.

Cinder shook her head, "Ember, I've told you a thousand times-"

"No," Ember interrupted her, recent events helping her become long since sick of this dance. "Not this time. Not after this."

Cinder did her best not to return her gaze to her dark-skinned bodyguard, but it only took moments for her to fail miserably.

"Our friend can handle sweating things out for a few hours," Ember offered, "I promise I won't get started without you. Just… go in there."

Cinder only felt Ember walk away since her eyes were still glued to Emerald. With a deep sigh, she gave in and entered the room, sitting next to the sleeping girl and wondering what she was supposed to do. Not to mention what she was supposed to _say_ when Emerald finally woke up.


	12. Captures and Kidnaps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is a bit late. There also won't be a second chapter this week. I'm going to be busy this weekend, and I'm out of pre-written chapters. I'm still going to try to release at least one chapter a week, but I don't want to push myself too much and release chapters before they're ready. Please continue to enjoy!

Adam, Blake and Ilia had met up at a nearby diner after they were sure none of them were still being pursued after the bank job. They decided to have a meal, as meeting up in the booths and then leaving may be suspicious. It was Tyrian's job to grab the van for his getaway, which left the three to walk home after they finished their dinner. By the time they arrived at Adam's house the sun had set and there were police out front, prompting the trio to duck into the alleyways across the street. Adam sent Ilia, as the resident stealth expert, to gather information.

While Ilia was off sneaking around, Adam turned to Blake, "Is there any way _they_ could have connected you to me?"

"I don't know…" Blake answered, "I stole my file from the casino ages ago, like you asked. There's no other paper trail I can think of…"

Ilia returned quickly, a solemn look on her face. "Tyrian's van is there, but obviously no Tyrian. I managed to get eyes through a window, and there was clearly a fight. The basement door was open, too."

Adam fumed, running the information through his head and trying to figure out how to recover.

"I know someone in the local precinct," Ilia announced, "I could call them up, see if Tyrian-"

"Don't bother," Adam told her, "even if Cinder weren't involved in this, which I'm _certain_ she was, she owns so much of the police that there's no way she doesn't have Tyrian herself by now."

"She's probably interrogating him as we speak," Ilia nodded. "Shit."

Blake, thinking back on her recent revelation, spoke meekly, "Maybe this is a sign?"

Adam and Ilia both looked to her, Adam with disinterested curiosity and Ilia with disdain, as if she knew what the doubtful woman was about to say.

"Maybe it's a last chance to pack it in," Blake continued, "You cannot tell me this is going the way you thought it would."

"That is no reason to give up," Adam insisted, "we merely have to… adapt."

"Adapt?" Blake questioned openly, "we're losing, Adam!"

"Again with your constant questioning!" Ilia scowled, "We've succeeded with both of our attacks so far, how are we losing?"

"We've lost a person with each attack," Blake reminded her, "and we may have done some real damage, but Cinder just did some real damage to us, too! What more can just three of us do? Not to mention Cinder clearly knows who at least two of us are now!"

"Blake, love," Adam took her shoulders in his hands, "you must trust me. We won't stay just three for long, there are surely others who would fight against her. And Tyrian doesn't have anything to tell her she doesn't already know by now. This is just a small setback, nothing more."

Blake crossed her arms, dropped her gaze and bit her lip nervously. "What do even do next?" she finally asked, despite her secret hope to find a way out of this.

Adam stepped away in deep thought, trying to come up with a plan. The loss of Tyrian could certainly be felt, more so than when Tanager was 'lost'. And while Adam wasn't necessarily opposed to leaving the uneasy man with Cinder and moving on, perhaps there was an opportunity here… "There's a chance that the bank's destruction will lessen Cinder's allies. We may be able to draw her out, or at the very least get Tyrian back."

Blake's eyes shut. _Of course he'd invent_ something _. I only hope it won't get us all killed…_ "What do we do…?"

"We'll need a place," Adam began, "I think I know an unused dock warehouse outside of Cinder's direct control. We can set up shop there until further notice. Once we get there, Blake, I want you to babysit the place while Ilia and I do a bit of setup work."

"Okay…" Blake nodded, not bothering to ask what the plan was. She had a feeling she wouldn't like it anyway. She started walking down the alley ahead of the other two, lost in her thoughts, doubts and regrets.

Ilia caught on to Blake's state of mind almost immediately. "Whatever spell you have over her is starting to fail," she warned Adam, "Maybe we should cut her loose."

Ilia didn't expect Adam to round on her with a fury in his eye. "What are you trying to say?" he growled.

Ilia stammered, suddenly intimidated. "J-just that she's not going to see this through. She already messed up once, keeping her around could be a mistake."

"Even if she _is_ starting to doubt, she wouldn't dare stand against _me_ ," Adam claimed proudly, "and she is right about one thing, unfortunately… there's not very many of us at the moment."

"Fine," Ilia sighed, "but if I'm right, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Noted," Adam ended the conversation briskly.

"So, what are we going to do while Blake is babysitting the warehouse?" Ilia asked.

"I'm going to recruit a few warm bodies to back us up, some inconsequential nobodies," Adam explained, "As for you, I have a rather important job. For this to work, I need you to pick up…" he thought back to that day at the mall, "…let's call it a 'bargaining chip'."

* * *

Ember was waiting for her mother at home. She would have loved to have started working over Tyrian without her, but she wasn't quite as experienced with it as her mother and she did make a promise. Instead, Ember found herself staring at her phone. She had three missed calls from Yang and a handful of messages.

_Hey, you okay? I tried calling you._

_It's been a few hours now. Where are you?_

_Guess I'll see you at school tomorrow._

About an hour passed between that massage and the next one.

_I heard about the bank. Does that have something to do with your mom? Is that why you took off?_

_I'm starting to worry…_

There was another hour between this massage and the last one, received only minutes ago.

_Call me whenever you can be bothered to, I guess…_

Ember ran one hand down her face, her other hand holding her phone with one thumb over Yang's contact. She almost hit 'call', but at the last second her thumb jolted over to 'message'.

_Sorry, Yang. Things got a little wild. I probably won't be at school for a while, but when I get back I promise I will tell you all about it._

She set her phone down, trying to anticipate Yang's response. or if she would even send one. Yang's reply did come, and in no time at all.

_Why not now? School's over in just a few minutes. You could pick me up, and we could go into town? Or maybe your place?_

Ember took a calming breath, hoping she was doing the right thing as she typed out her response.

_I can't. Like I said, I'll explain it all when I see you again. For now, let's just say it's probably not a good idea to be around me._

Ember set her phone down, thinking that would be the end. Her phone pings what felt like seconds later.

_What the hell does that mean?_

Ember didn't know how to answer that. In the end, she decided not to. After a few minutes, she turned her phone's volume off to easier ignore the occasional message alerts. Thankfully it wasn't too much longer after that that Cinder came home.

Cinder didn't look like she was on cloud nine like Ember was hoping she would. "How did things go with Emerald?" she asked cautiously.

Cinder sighed, knowing this question was coming the entire drive home. "We didn't talk, Ember," the mother answered.

"Mom!" Ember frowned.

"It's not like you think," Cinder defended, "she's not even awake, at least she wasn't when I left. It wasn't doing any good for me to hover over her while she slept when we could be making progress. I want to be able to tell her that her injuries were worth something."

"I guess that makes sense," Ember nodded, at least happy her mother wasn't backing out. Yet. "Then we should probably get started."

They started walking together into the back room. "I want you to just watch for now," Cinder ordered her daughter, "think of it as 'learning by observation'." Ember nodded, accepting her mother's reasoning.

Waiting for them in the back room was the man Ember had managed to capture, bound to the chair like Stag had been not so long ago. A folder lay on a nearby table, the results of a short background search on the man. Cinder picked up the folder, looking over the information. "Well, I suppose that explains why you would attack me," Cinder nodded as she read, " _Tyrian Callows._ "

Ember felt a pang of recognition at the name. "Callows. Why _does_ that sound familiar?"

"His family used to corner the market in a very specific product," Cinder explained. "When I banned it from Vale, I had to exile them when they refused to stop selling."

"You didn't just exile us," Tyrian cut in, "you destroyed us! Set fire to our lab and burned us out! We had nothing after you were done with us, and the family fell apart!"

"I can't help but feel that's not really a bad thing," Cinder's face stayed flat. "We're not here to talk about the past, though. I'd rather discuss more recent events." Her hands ran over the table where various interrogation tools were laid out, including a set of knives obtained from Tyrian himself. Over two dozen blades of various sizes, shapes and purposes. She picked up one knife she had very specifically set aside. "How well do you know your own equipment, I wonder? Do you recognize this one?"

Tyrian chuckled darkly, "Is that the one I stuck in your spoiled 'daughter'?"

"Congratulations," Cinder smiled. She stepped close to Tyrian and jammed the knife into his own shoulder.

Tyrian growled, smiling through the pain in his shoulder. "You _really_ think I can't handle my own knives?"

"Oh, _this_ ," Cinder pressed her finger against the knife, "This is all for my sake alone. The questions will come later, first… I want to have some fun."

Ember managed a smile. Watching her mother work was truly a treat to the hopeful future crime lord.

Cinder picked up another blade from the table. "Let's see just how well you can handle your own knives," she smirked. "Let's see how many we can sheath into your body."

Tyrian growled again as Cinder drove the second knife into the back of his hand.

* * *

They had 'interrogated' Tyrian throughout the night, only stopping for about two hours to give Tyrian a rest so his body wouldn't give out. Cinder and Ember used the opportunity to take a nap and were back at it again before sunrise. A few more hours passed, and Cinder was currently dragging her favorite hot, sharpened iron across the man's flesh. She wasn't being too careful about the nearly two dozen knives embedded in his body, and was finally drawing screams from his mouth.

"I don't know what you expect to learn from _me_!" Tyrian finally shouted after the latest hot iron treatment, burns and blood coating his body. "You already know about Adam and his doll, why else would you have been at his house? I have no information you don't already have. It's not like he shared his future plans with us, if he even plans ahead at all…" Tyrian chuckled to himself at the last comment.

"It sounds like you don't faith in the guy," Ember pointed out.

"He _is_ smart, if short-sighted," Tyrian breathed. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he _was_ talking because it was keeping the hot iron away. It wasn't like he had anything important to say anyways. "I never did buy into his noble cause, didn't need to. All I wanted," he looked to Cinder, "was a shot at _you_. I don't even think _he_ believes his bullshit. It's likely all for the benefit of his bedwarmer."

Cinder raised her eyebrow and shoved the iron back into the fire to keep its heat up. "And what _noble cause_ would that be?"

Tyrian laughed again thinking back on the ridiculous reasoning. "Saving Vale's underworld from your poor decisions."

"'Poor decisions'?" Cinder sneered.

"Cutting out industries for the sake of your little bundle of kidnapped joy," Tyrian mocked, "And making everyone a little less rich in the process."

Cinder and Ember traded looks of disbelief. "Seriously?" Ember finally spoke up, " _that's_ why he's attacking us?"

Tyrian laughed again, "I thought it was stupid, too! Hahaha! If that was really a problem, it would have been addressed years ago. He tried to say 'it's not sustainable', hehehehehehehaha…"

"The profits we've lost are negligible in the grand scheme," Cinder shook her head, "and what we've gained in return in public respect more than makes up for it."

"Even I can see _that_ ," Tyrian admitted, "Like I said, I'm pretty sure it's all a convenient half-lie for Blake's sake. The man lusts for power. You can see it in his eyes."

There was a beat of silence while Cinder and Ember were in thought. "Blake did seem doubtful of things when I met her," Ember eventually voiced her thoughts, "if she thinks its for some greater good and she's _still_ unsure, telling her the truth might just break her from the fight. She could be a weakness."

"Maybe…" Cinder tentatively agreed, "He never struck me as someone who would fall in love, but he must have some reason he's lying to keep Blake around."

"And that…" Tyrian sighed, "is the extent of my usefulness. So do what you must."

Cinder looked to her daughter. She gestured for them to leave the room, and a still living Tyrian watched them close the door.

"So… we're _not_ killing him?" Ember asked.

"He did give us something, small as it was, but he could be giving us pennies to try and convince us he doesn't have dollars," Cinder explained.

"Okay," Ember nodded, "so we let him stew for a while, then get back to it if we have to?"

"Precisely," Cinder smiled. Now that she had accepted Ember's career goals, she found herself surprisingly proud of her daughter's learning curve. "Breakfast?"

"I'm starving," Ember smiled. She sat down in the kitchen and pulled out her phone while Cinder got to work making omelets. Yang had stopped trying to text her a long time ago with a definitive 'I guess I'll see you when I see you, then' after a short string of notably angrier messages. Ember thought that would be the end of it, but she saw another message from Yang. Even stranger, it was a picture message of all things. She opened it, and her scar immediately began to ache.

* * *

Yang's first thought when she woke up that morning was to check her phone. She didn't expect Ember to have answered, especially after her last few messages. She did regret them as the hours drug on. Yang didn't want to alienate her only friend, even if Ember seemed hellbent on alienating her at the moment. She almost sent Ember another message but pushing the girl to talk had never worked in the past.

_I suppose I'll just have to wait_ , the blonde frowned and got ready for school. She wolfed down some cheap breakfast, made sure her door was locked behind her, and left for school. At the bottom of the stairs she stopped, casting a look over her shoulder. _Why do I feel like I'm being watched?_ Seeing no one, not even other students, she tried to shake off the feeling and continued. The last thing she remembered was a strange, sickly sweet smell.

* * *

"I don't think she knows anything, if her messages are anything to go by."

"It doesn't matter. I take it you finally broke into her phone?"

"Yup."

The voices penetrated the darkness. Yang could still smell the residue of that strange sweet substance on her mouth and nose. She forced her eyes open. Old metal with rusted edges met her vision. It almost looked like she was in a walk-in freeze, though it wasn't powered. Her wrists and ankles were bound to the chair she sat in. In front of her were two people, a girl with long brown hair and a scary-looking redheaded man. "It seems our guest is awake," the man noted.

"Wha…" Yang struggled through the fog in her mind, "What's going on…? Where am I…?"

"You really _don't_ know, do you?" the girl teased, holding up Yang's phone. "Your dear friend has been keeping some pret-ty big secrets from you."

"You mean Ember?" Yang slowly regained control of her consciousness, "what are you… talking about?"

"Tell you what, I'll let you in on every last one," the girl offered, "I just need you to look pretty for a picture real quick. Had to wait until your eyes were open so they knew you were still alive."

"Still alive?" Yang shook her head, speaking clearer and louder, "What the hell is going on!?"

"Say cheese," the girl used Yang's phone to snap a picture.

* * *

"Ember? Are you okay?" Cinder noticed her daughter's shift in mood. She stepped behind Ember and looked at the image on her phone. "Oh no…"

The picture was a bound and groggy Yang, tied to a chair with a sign around her neck.

_EAST VALE TRAINYARD_

_10 AM_

_BRING OUR MAN_

Cinder quickly pulled the phone out of her daughter's hand, grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Ember, honey, stay calm."

"We can't abandon her," Ember argued immediately.

"And we're not going to," Cinder promised, "But we have to be careful. They want to draw us out to neutral territory. We have to be smart, but we _will_ get her back."

Ember nodded, feeling the ache in her head bringing her anger and focus. "This is my fault, isn't it?"

"This was always a bad situation," Cinder tried to assure her, "we don't know when or how they found out about her."

"She could have been here," Ember confessed, "but I thought she was safer away from me."

"You did what you thought was right," Cinder continued, "if you thought for a moment this could happen, she _would_ be here. You know that."

Ember nodded, finally meeting her mother's eye. "I have to get her back."

"Ember, no," Cinder was adamant. She didn't like the idea of her being anywhere near that trainyard. "We have to be _smart_."

"Who else can we send?" Ember argued, "If you go, they'll just try and kill you. Emerald is out of commission. I'm the only friendly face we have, and we _need_ a friendly face. She'll be scared enough without some meat-headed stranger picking her up."

Cinder opened her mouth to argue, but could only curse when she realized Ember had a point. And with precious few hours to make any kind of plan, they weren't exactly flush with time to think of alternatives.


	13. Murphy's Law

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so it's been a little more than a week... I apologize. Good news is, I'm close enough to the end to give you an official chapter count! See, I do know where my stories are going! Most of the time... Anywho, this chapter was originally planned as only the first half of the next one, but grew so long I decided to split them up, probably for the best too. I obviously can't seem to promise the next chapters will release in a timely manner, but I can promise there are only two more chapters left. I hope you all continue to read and enjoy!

Blake and Ilia were watching over Yang as the hours ticked closer to the meeting time. Once Adam returned they were going to immediately leave for the trainyard.

"So, Blake?" Ilia spoke up, "Do you really think either Cinder or her daughter will actually show up for Yang?"

"I don't care," Blake's voice was a passive monotone. Somehow she wasn't as surprised as she thought she should be to find Adam had kidnapped a civilian.

"I don't think they are," Ilia continued despite Blake's comment. Her intent was to tease their captive, after all. "I think they'll send some lackey, _if_ they come for her at all… but really, how important can one girl be?"

Yang, to her credit, blocked out Ilia's words. She knew the woman was only trying to get a rise out of her.

Ilia looked between Blake and Yang with a frown. "You two are no fun."

The door opened and Adam walked in, trailed by two others Blake didn't recognize. There was a woman with short silver hair and a man with spiky brown hair and a goatee. "It's time," was all he said.

* * *

The East Vale Trainyard was an abandoned and overgrown mess. Rusting train cars on forgotten rails built a series of cramped, narrow passages. A large section house was decorated with boarded windows and doors, and the red brick was hardly visible through the many layers of graffiti. On one of the few intact roads, two black vehicles with blacked out windows waited for the ordained hour.

Cinder examined the trainyard through the tinted back window of the SUV with a frown. It was far from the ideal location for the tradeoff. Lines of sight were few and far between, and what little there were was likely scouted by their enemy already.

"I don't like this," Cinder reiterated for the umpteenth time.

"I know," Ember agreed from the seat next to her, "but we're not leaving Yang with them."

Cinder looked to her daughter, "Regardless, _we_ shouldn't be anywhere near this place. The chances this is a trap..."

"What are the chances Yang will actually leave with some random meathead? Or that Adam wouldn't kill said meathead to force one of _us_ to make the switch anyway?" Ember reminded her.

"I think it's worth a try. At least I wouldn't be sending my daughter to meet the people who want me gone and possibly dead," Cinder insisted.

"I disagree," Ember stated plainly, "Sister or not, Yang is still my only friend, and an innocent civilian. And it's my fault she's a part of this. If we sent someone else to do this, and something went wrong, I could never forgive myself."

Cinder sighed in resignation. Ember was fully enveloped within her focused anger. Her mind wouldn't be changed, and Cinder knew better than to expect her daughter to sit back and wait. She could only let Ember do her thing, and support her however she could.

"I still don't have to like it," she conceded and grabbed a long rifle case. "If our own plan is going to work at all, I should find a position before Adam and his entourage show up." With that, Cinder opened the door to leave the SUV and find a place to watch the deal and keep Ember safe.

Ember's hand found Cinder's own as the mother began to climb out of the vehicle. Amber eyes refocused on silver. "Stay safe," Ember offered for the mother, "and good luck."

Cinder smiled, "You as well. I love you."

Cinder slung the rifle case over her shoulder and watched the SUV leave, followed by the sedan behind it. She pushed her concerns to the back of her mind and began searching for a vantage point. Getting emotional wouldn't help her protect her daughter and recover Yang. Finding a spot to set up her sniper rifle and look over proceedings would.

Cinder immediately discounted the large section house. As the most prominent building, it was likely being controlled by Adam. Hell, perhaps that's where the man currently was while waiting for the official time to come. The two-story guard house by the gate, however, could be an excellent position… It was too close to the rest of civilization to be a 'good' position, but since Adam likely had control of all the 'good' position, a 'bad' one might just be best.

She forced her way inside easily enough and made her way up the stairs. The top room must have been some sort of office. There were a couple of desks and, strangely enough, a single keyboard. Any other equipment was probably broken or stolen. Or both. _No time for all that,_ she reminded herself.

A nearby widow offered an 'acceptable' view of the trainyard, _in the loosest since of the word._ She could see the swap point, but she was still rather low and on their own side of the meet. She wouldn't be able to shoot Adam without shooting through Ember or their own men, for example. As they were short on time and options, it would have to do. Cinder pushed the empty desk up to the window to have a spot for her rifle's tri-pod without sticking her barrel out the window.

She was setting the focus of the scope when Adam's group arrived. There were three of them, all masked, and dragging a bound Yang. Cinder couldn't see their build from where she was, so it was impossible to tell if one of them was Adam. She could only distinguish their masks, one cat, one lizard, and one spider.

Down at the meet, Ember could tell at least that all three masked individuals were women. None could be Adam, but she did briefly wonder if one of them was Blake. That thought quickly left her mind when her eyes met Yang. "Let's go," Ember told the driver, and they both stepped out of the vehicle.

"Well, well," the girl in the Lizard mask spoke up, "She actually showed up."

"Ember!" Yang called out, "What the hell is going on!?"

"Quiet!" The lizard tugged on Yang's bonds to keep her in place. "Where is our man?" she asked Ember.

Ember gestured to the second car. A man stepped out of the driver's seat and pulled Tyrian out of the trunk.

The lizard woman seemed to relax at seeing the man. She let go of Yang and pushed the blonde's shoulder with a, "Go."

Tyrian was pushed as well, and the two hostages began walking across the track. As they passed each other, Tyrian shot a mad eye at Yang, terrifying the young blonde in the process. Yang ran the last few steps to her friend. "What the hell is going on?" she asked again once she reached Ember, "They tried to tell me your mom is a crime boss or something?"

"I told you I would explain everything next time I saw you," Ember reminded her, her anger slowly dissipating now that Yang was safe, "but let's get out of here first."

Through her sniper's scope, Cinder watched the swap carefully. So far, it seemed everything was going smoothly. _Perhaps this wasn't a trap after all…_

Not trusting that for a second, she began to scan the general surroundings. It was in an upper window of the section house that she found a fourth member of Adam's entourage, wearing a bat mask and holding a sniper rifle. And he was aiming right at Ember.

It is possible that his role was the same as her own, just making sure the trade went off okay. It is possible that the sniper wasn't taking aim with the intent to shoot first. It was also just as possible that the people who wanted her dead would kill her daughter just to hurt her. In the moment, she saw someone pointing a gun at her daughter and she wasn't about to take any chances.

The gunshot was deafening in the quiet trainyard, and everyone hit the floor. Ember's eyes darted to the masked women. Their own eyes were cast upward to a nearby window. The Fall daughter followed their gaze to see a man slumped over with a blood-soaked sniper rifle pinned beneath him.

"Yuma!" The woman in the spider mask cried.

"Time to go!" Ember's driver shouted, pulling open the driver door of the SUV.

"Yeah, no shit!" Ember shouted back.

It was just a moment too late. The spider-masked woman drew a pistol from her jacket and fired at the first opponent she laid her sights on.

_BANG_

Blood explode from the driver's chest. Yang had become petrified, her eyes locked on the wound as the man slumped onto the leather seating and struggled for breath.

"Yang, come _on_!" Ember grabbed the blonde and pulled her away as the other two masked woman drew their own weapons. They retreated around the back of the SUV, settling behind the sedan amidst a shower of gunfire and bullets. Ember reached for the front passenger door.

"Tires!" the lizard girl shouted.

The next bout of gunfire was followed by the sound of air releasing and the vehicles adopting an unusual lean. "Shit..." Ember dropped her hand and didn't bother opening the door.

"What the hell is going on…?" Yang asked once again.

"Do yourself a favor and _quit asking that fucking question!_ " Ember growled, "There are more important things to spend your breath on right now!" Yang closed her mouth with a vice grip.

"Come out, come out, little Ember," one of the masked women teased, "We promise not to hurt you if you surrender..."

Ember began to try and think of a way out of this situation. Staying still wouldn't do them any good. If they ran back across the open path she initially drove down they might have cover from her mom, but they would also be exposing their backs to the enemy. And there was still Adam to consider, his current location unknown. Running across the open concrete didn't sound like the best idea...

Ember's gaze landed on the rail system just a few yards away, over-congested with abandoned containers. _That will have to do._ "Yang, do you see that small gap between those two train cars?" Ember pointed.

Yang only nodded, her fear keeping her silent.

"I'm going to count to three," Ember explained, " _On_ three, I want you to sprint through that gap and get behind the cars. I'll be right behind you, I promise. Got it?"

Yang nodded again.

"Okay… one… two… _three!"_

Yang bolted between the cars, trying her best to ignore the shouting and gunfire behind her. She leaped over the train coupling to safety before spinning right around to watch for Ember. The Fall daughter was, as she promised, right behind her. Ember stumbled over the coupling with significantly less grace and fell to the ground, gripping her right bicep.

"Ah, fuck..." Ember cursed as blood began seeping through her fingers, "so this is what getting shot feels like..."

"Ember!" Yang cried.

"I'll be fine," Ember rushed to her feet, "we still need to move. We're not safe yet."

"I'll say."

Yang and Ember turned to the new voice. The bull masked man himself stepped into view from between the train cars, a stubby shotgun hanging from one hand. "Are you Adam?" Ember asked.

The man's answer was to raise the shotgun to the girls. This time Yang didn't need to be told to run. Both girls dashed through the open doors of a train car next to them, only to meet the spider masked girl in the next lane. Yang and Ember continued into the next lane beyond that, this one free of enemy gunmen. Ember wasn't one to rest just yet. She took Yang's hand and dragged the blonde through the maze of tall weeds and corrugated metal, occasionally doubling back to a previous lane in an effort to lose pursuers.

Unfortunately, they got lost themselves in the process. "Do you know how to get out of here?" Yang finally asked.

"At this point, we're banking on luck," Ember admitted as a de-railed car built a dead end. The still railed cars on either side were the kind with massive sliding doors, so Ember picked one and reached for the latch. She pushed the door open and came eye-to-mask with one of Adam's cronies. The cat masked girl spotted Ember just as quickly, leveling her Uzi with the young girl's chest.

The seconds ticked by silently as neither girl made a move. The longer the cat masked girl didn't pull the trigger, the more Ember wondered what was holding her opponent back. The daughter Fall studied the girl's build and posture, and came to a conclusion. "How are those doubts of yours, Belladonna?"

Blake wasn't too shocked at getting called out. She slowly lowered her Uzi, an unspoken answer. Ember quickly vanished behind the closing door. A few moments pass before Adam appears from behind another train car down the line. "Ms. Cat!" he called out to her, "have you seen them?"

With more confidence than Blake has ever been able to muster, she answered, "No."

"Damn it," Adam cursed, believing her whole heartedly.

* * *

Yang and Ember continued to silently stalk through the rail yard, managing to avoid masked individuals the entire way. "Hey," Yang called out, "I think it opens up over here… we might be able to get out!"

"Wait!" Ember stopped her, "wait."

"What?" Yang asked.

"I'll go first," Ember told her, thankful that her left arm was still okay as she drew her custom .45, Crescent Rose.

Yang eyed the weapon with a hint of fear. "What… what exactly are you going to do with that?"

"Whatever I have to," Ember answered darkly, "These people won't hesitate to kill us, Yang."

"What about the cat one?" Yang pointed out.

"She's a special case," Ember explained, "and she may not be so kind to us next time, not if the others are around. Why is this even an argument? Do you _want_ to go out there? Without a weapon?"

Yang grumbled and hesitantly stepped back, letting Ember go ahead. "Fine."

"Thank you," Ember nodded, taking the lead and turning the corner.

For the first time since she was kidnapped, Yang finally had a quiet moment alone with her thoughts. Until now, fear and adrenaline had pushed her forward, allowed her to ignore things around her. Now it all crashed back. Getting captured, being told Cinder led Vale's mafia, seeing Ember completely calm with a firefight, watching that man die…

_O_ _h god I watched a man die!_

Yang wrapped her arms around herself as that image came back. Despite her reservations, she was hoping Ember would return soon. At the very least, Ember clearly wanted to keep her alive.

"Well… well… well..." a low voice announced itself in a way that sent shivers down the blonde's spine. Yang looked up to see the wild looking man she was apparently traded for. He was limping, bloody and exhausted, but those dark eyes were filled with determination. In his hand was a large, gleaming knife.

"Has your friend abandoned you?" the wild man teased. " _pity._ "

"She'll be back any moment..." Yang pleaded, her voice shaking. "A-and… and she's got a g-gun..."

The man didn't seem to hear her. "Killing you won't quite be the revenge I'm looking for," he continued, a mad glint in his eye. " _But it will be satisfying nonetheless!_ " He raised the blade-

_BANG-BANG_

-and dropped it as two bullet holes appeared in his chest. The man slumped to the ground with none of the slow dramatics you see in movies, simply flat on the ground in a mere moment.

Yang's head turned slowly to face the shooter. Her latest fears were realized when she saw Ember still aiming her black pistol at where the man was standing seconds before. "You… you killed him..."

"Yeah..." Ember spoke softly, lowering her weapon as the same realization dawning on her. "I did..." Ember was the first to break out of the daze, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. She could ruminate on killing a human being for the first time whens they were safe. "Come on, Yang."

Yang didn't move. "You killed a man."

Ember was dumbfounded. "Yang, he was going to kill _you_."

"You couldn't have shot him in the arm or something?" Yang argued.

"Are we really doing this _right now_?" Ember fumed, "We need to get the _hell_ out of here!"

"No," Yang shook her head, "I want an answer. Is Cinder really some crime lord? Are _you_ a criminal too!?"

"I told you, I will tell you _everything_ when we're safe," Ember pleaded.

"And I'm not asking for _everything_ ," Yang countered, "Just yes or no, and then I'll follow you out of here."

Ember took a deep breath. This exact conversation is what she had been avoiding for months now, and Yang had put her in a position where she couldn't put it off any longer. She exhaled and looked the blonde in the eye. "Yes."

It was the answer Yang was expected, but she was still shocked to hear it out loud and that showed on her face.

Ember flinched at Yang's expression. She doubted their friendship would survive this. "Now can we please just-"

"Some honesty out of a Fall," Adam's voice interrupted them. The man in the bull mask stepped into view from behind the container. "I'm actually impressed."

"God _damn it_!" Ember cursed, raising her gun at the man.

"But I'm afraid it's too little, too late," Adam carried on, not paying any mind to the weapon aimed at him. "We were really considering letting you go, until your sniper opened fire."

"Bullshit," Ember called him out immediately.

"Believe what you will," was Adam's only reply.

Yang turned her eye back to her ally in time to see the girl in the lizard mask approach. "Ember, behind-!"

Yang's sentence continued, but that much was all Ember needed to spin around. Alas, Adam's words of 'too late' rang true. The lizard girl socked Ember in the jaw as she turned. The young Fall dropped to the ground, Crescent Rose clattering away. The lizard girl positioned herself so she was behind Ember again, wrapped her arm around Ember's neck and lifted, bringing Ember to her feet as well as cutting off her airway.

Yang's eyes flitted down to the custom .45 on the ground. She hesitated, unsure what to do.

"Go ahead," Adam teased, raising his shotgun to her.

Yang looked around again, seeing the spider masked girl as well and the cat masked girl appear once more. There was no way she could get the gun, and even if she did she wasn't sure she had the guts to fire it at a living person. Instead, Yang slowly raised her hands.

"Yang..." Ember's choked voice managed to get the blonde's attention. "I'm… s… sorry..." Silver eyes closed and the girl went limp.

"I guess we don't need the blonde anymore?" The cat masked girl quickly tried to reason Yang's freedom.

"No, she could still be useful," Adam shot the idea down. He strutted over to her, raising the butt of his weapon. Yang scrunched her eyes closed, resigned to her fate. A sharp pain to her temple led to the darkness of unconsciousness.


	14. Boiling Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So last time I promised only two more chapters... Due to my 'ever-evolving' writing style, I have ended up with a few more scenes than I initially planned. Enough scenes to add another chapter, in fact. I really think there won't be any further changes to official chapter count, but at this point it seems the only promise I can make is that I -will- complete this story. Hopefully before November 8th, otherwise i'm probably not writing again until after I spend about a thousand hours in Death Stranding...
> 
> Anywho, story time!

_BANG_

Cinder kept her eye through the scope and watched the bat-masked man slump over his rifle, blood seeping out from beneath him. She knew her gunshot likely set things off on the ground and turned her scope back to the meet. She quickly spotted Ember and Yang behind one of the cars. The other masked agents were out of her sight, likely behind cover of their own. She could vaguely hear them shouting, but couldn't make out words.

Cinder tried her best to keep one eye on her daughter and the other on all potential enemy cover. _Why aren't they getting in the vehicles? What is Ember going to do? Run back across the open asphalt?_ Suddenly, Ember and Yang took off into the jungle of nearby railcars. "Shit! Where are they going?" Cinder tore her gaze away from the scope. She didn't know what drove her daughter into that mess, it wasn't going to make getting out of here any easier.

"Shit!" Cinder dropped the rifle and fled the building. The battle had moved on, and she wasn't about to leave her daughter to her own devices. She sprinted down the asphalt, pulling out her pistol as she neared the spot her daughter had entered. A quick sideways glance told her a bit more of the story. Both of their vehicles had both tires on one side shot out. _They couldn't escape in the car._ Cinder ignored the blood that may have been Ember's.

Cinder cautiously stepped into the rusted maze. She quickly realized she had no way to determine where Ember and Yang had gone, and that she could only wander and hope to find them before someone else does. With her weapon at the ready, Cinder picked a direction and followed it, occasionally taking turns into different lanes and through open railcars.

Time slipped away as she seemed to miraculously avoid both friend and foe. Finally Cinder spotted someone from between the cars. The girl in the cat mask's back was to her, and Cinder brought up her weapon, aiming through the gap at her. A noise distracted them both, the sound of a heavy metal door sliding open. Cat mask girl aimed her weapon into an open railcar where the sound originated.

The air itself seemed still as Cinder waited for the resolution. The cat girl wasn't firing, but neither was she lowering her weapon. Finally a voice broke, a voice Cinder intimately recognized.

"How are those doubts of yours, Belladonna?"

_Blake Belladonna,_ Cinder recalled, _the girl Ember spoke with at the mall…_

Ember's voice soothed her adoptive mother, as did Blake's lowering of her own weapon. Cinder heard Ember slam her door back shut, cutting them off from each other but marking that she was safe, at least for now.

"Ms. Cat!"

Another voice Ember recognized catpured her and Blake's attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bull masked man step into view.

"Have you seen them?" Adam asked.

"No," Blake lied confidently.

"Damn it!" Adam cursed, turning to walk away.

Cinder raised her gun once more, but her cooler head prevailed. Her reckless trigger finger had caused this situation in the first place, and Ember may still be relatively close by. More gunfire would only draw everyone this way and endanger her daughter, even if it would mean the death of that traitor.

After everyone dispersed, Cinder went through the railcar in an attempt to connect with whatever path Ember was taking. More random wandering followed, making Cinder feel like she had lost track once again. _How could I have ever let this situation come to pass? Ember should never have made the swap…_

Her musing was cut off when she hopped over a coupling into the next lane and saw the back of Adam himself. She jumped back into cover, disturbing the rail ballast in the process. She heard Adam's footsteps stop, before shortly resuming and heading her direction. She brought her pistol up, aiming for right where Adam will be once he reaches her corner…

_BANG-BANG_

Cinder's anxiety rose exponentially. That gunfire could mean anything, including… _no, don't think about that…_

The gunfire also stopped Adam before he reached the corner, making him turn around again and head the direction of the sound. Cinder took a few calming breaths and steeled her resolve. She hopped back over the coupling to follow the sound herself, apart from Adam if possible. Her anxiety rose further with every dead end and rusted door that slowed her down, until she spotted a body on the ground.

Cinder approached the corpse cautiously. _Tyrian_?Cinder looked the body over and counted two bullet holes in his cheat. _There were only two shots, right? So Ember must be okay!_ Cinder breathed a short sigh of relief that was cut short when she heard a car start up nearby. She rushed toward the sound and finally exited the maze to the sight of Adam slamming the trunk on something. _Or someone_.

Adam's eyes caught Cinder, and Cinder spotted Crescent Rose in his hand. Then Cinder saw red. Gunfire was exchanged, Adam ducked behind the far side of the vehicle to hop in the passenger seat, the car took off, and Cinder kept firing until the slide locked.

The car turned to corner out of sight, and Adam was gone. Yang was gone. Ember was gone. _Ember was gone_.

* * *

Not a lot bothered Valen Police Cheif Maria Calavera. She had been dealing with questions and rumors about her loyalty and the corruption of her department for too long to worry about much. But when Cinder called her up, barked a few orders, and told her to bring the results straight to her at her home? _That_ gave Maria cause for concern.

You might think that, as police chief, Maria would resist Cinder's orders. That she would find some way to weasel out or make things difficult, but here's the thing… all those questions and rumors are, all of them, fair and justified. Because Maria had long since pledged herself – and by extension all of Vale's police – to the Fall Mafia long ago.

To make a long story short, Maria valued peace above all, and she would have to be truly blind not to see that Cinder Fall's Vale was the most peaceful the city had been in a very long time. The Mafia boss had even managed to bring the unruly and anarchic Branwen street gang to heel. Sure crime was higher than ever, but innocent civilian casualties were near non-existent with Cinder's regime.

The point is, as Maria walked up the drive to the Fall estate, her concern wasn't for following through with Cinder's orders. She knew very well who was in charge of their relationship and she never doubted her decision for a moment. Her concern is that a meeting like this hadn't been called for years. Given recent rumors about Cinder's organization, Maria suspected something had happen to light the fire, so to speak, and she knew what it looked like when a Fall went to war.

"Ms. Calavera," Cinder's guard greeted her at the door and let her in. Maria nodded in greeting and entered the Mafia's home. Inside was a sight that further surprised and concerned her. Cinder's most trusted agents, save for Emerald Sustrai, were all waiting as well. Cinder herself was quiet, and Maria didn't need the silence broken to hand over her information immediately.

Cinder opened the folder and flipped through the files. "Good. Talk us through it, Calavera."

"Well, it wasn't hard to find the vehicle leaving the trainyards," Calavera nodded, "You managed to shoot out a taillight, that helped up track it. We did lose it for a while when it turned into the downtown alleyways, but an eager and eagle-eyed young officer spotted it again in industrial, where we soon lose it for good."

"Is it safe to say the vehicle hasn't left industrial since you can't find it again?" Cinder asked.

"I'd wager my career on it," Maria nodded, "All this high-tech stuff really makes things easy."

"Good. Keep the area clear," Cinder ordered.

That was the order Maria feared. "How bloody will this get?"

"There's only three or four future corpses I'm aware of," Cinder answered darkly.

"What is this for?" Maria dared to ask.

"They have Ember."

It was all anyone in the room needed to know.

"You know what to do," Cinder told Maria before turning to the rest of her ensemble. "The rest of you, search. Top to bottom, squeeze Adam and his cronies out. Don't even think about returning if you don't have my daughter in hand, safe and sound. I suggest you start _now_."

The house quickly emptied, leaving Cinder alone with her thoughts. The only thing keeping her from joining her men on the search was the fear that her emotions would get the better of her once again. Not for the first time she internally vocalized her regret at caving to let Ember handle things so quickly.

Speaking of getting emotional… there was another presence Cinder was missing right now. With nothing keeping her in her empty house, Cinder left for the hospital.

* * *

"Has she woken yet?" Cinder asked Emerald's doctor the second she saw him.

"She has, actually," the doctor nodded, "Just a few minutes after you left yesterday if I'm not mistaken. She's sleeping now, though… not much to do but watch TV and nap the day away when you're healing from a wound like hers."

"I don't wish to be disturbed while I'm here," Cinder ordered, leaving the doctor behind before he could argue. She didn't trust herself to keep her composure.

And sure enough, only moments after she secluded herself in Emerald's room, looking over the dark-skinned girl, Cinder broke down. She had set her men to work, remained stoic in the face of her subordinates. Now, in the unconscious presence of her most trusted agent – and possibly more – she allowed herself to feel what she was truly feeling.

It stirred Emerald before too long, who woke up to Cinder seated beside her bed, leaning over her, holding her hand and crying. "M… Ma'am?"

Cinder startled at the sound of Emerald's voice, quickly looking away and wiping her face.

Emerald couldn't believe her eyes. Maybe the hospital drugs were making her see things? "Ma'am, were you really-?"

"Of course not!" Cinder cut her off. A beat of silence passed after which Cinder followed up, "and if you tell _anyone-_ "

"Where's Ember!?" It was Emerald's turn to cut her off as the bodyguard figured out the only scenario that would make her boss loose control.

Cinder looked like she was about to break down again. "Adam..."

"Oh god..." Emerald cursed, "I am so sorry, I was keeping an eye Tyrian and looked away for a _second-"_

"Emerald, stop. It wasn't your fault," Cinder assured, "Ember managed to subdue Tyrian and call an ambulance, it's why you're here."

"Then... how did Adam…?" Emerald asked.

Cinder caught Emerald up on all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. "And it's my fault..." she concluded.

"Cinder..." Emerald tried to comfort.

"I don't know that he was going to fire. Maybe they just had a sniper for the same reason I was watching through a scope of my own. But in the moment? I saw someone aiming at Ember and I reacted."

"Like anyone would," Emerald assured, "I certainly would have, to try and protect your daughter. And probably with the same results. Sometimes you're just dealt a bad hand..."

Cinder finally leveled her puffy, red eyes with her 'assistants', "That's not as comforting as you think it is."

"Well, it is true," Emerald defended, "And Ember is a strong girl. You don't really think she _isn't_ giving Adam hell right now, do you?"

* * *

"I don't know what the hell you think you're going to get from _me_?" Ember defiantly laughed in Adam's stupid bull mask, "I'm just a stupid kid playing in waters I don't understand."

" _That_ I highly doubt," Adam retorted.

"Then you're not just an idiot, you're a stubborn idiot," Ember insulted.

Adam raised his hand only to be stopped when Blake, wearing her cat mask, opened the door. "Can we talk?"

Adam reluctantly lowered his hand and left the room, sparing one last glance at his captives. Ember was still glaring at him while Yang had yet to awaken. Both were bound to chairs in a nondescript chamber of the warehouse. He closed the door on them and turned to Blake. "What is it?"

"What are we going to do, Adam?" Blake asked.

"What do you mean?" Adam seemed genuinely confused.

"Are you joking?" Blake shook her head, "what makes you think this will end well?"

"We have the upper hand Blake," Adam assured.

"In what world do we have the upper hand!?" Blake nearly shouted.

"We have her daughter!" Adam reminded her.

"That's not a victory, Adam, it's our death warrant!" Blake argued, "Its been only four hours since the railyard. _Four. Hours._ Already the police have vanished from the streets and Cinder's men are combing through every nook and cranny. We didn't turn the tables, we lashed out like a cornered animal on it's last leg!"

"Animals are most dangerous when cornered," Adam rebutted.

"That doesn't make the hunter call off the foxhounds, it just makes the hunter more cautious," Blake reminded him.

"And what would you do?" Adam accused.

"I would let them go and run like hell," Blake told him, "Maybe, if we don't hurt them, Cinder will let us live in exile."

"I can't believe you would ever be so cowardly," Adam sneered.

"I just want to survive," Blake countered.

"And we will," Adam nodded, "we have the _only_ bargaining chip that will affect Cinder. We _can_ turn this around. I just need you to trust me, Blake. Just a little longer, you'll see. I have great plans for us."

Blake couldn't believe what she was hearing. Apparently, her boyfriend was delusional on top of everything else. She needed to be careful about how she acted next, and was grateful Adam's delusion extended to him still believing she was wrapped around his finger. "Of course I trust you, Adam. I'm just scared Cinder will kill you."

"You don't have to worry about that," Adam spoke, his smile clear on his voice, "I promise."

* * *

When the door closed, Ember sighed in relief at being spared a few moments of Adam's presence. After a few seconds, Yang finally began to stir to life. The blonde's eyes opened to a room familiar to her, and she groaned.

"Good morning, sunshine," Ember greeted her.

Yang shot her a dirty look. "Glad one of us is in the mood for jokes."

"Gotta keep your own morale up, or they'll just break you faster," Ember explained, "at least, that's the theory I'm running with."

"More criminal insight?" Yang spat.

Ember frowned. "I was planning on telling you, Yang."

"When!?" Yang accused.

"After this business with Adam," Ember explained. "It's why I started blowing you off… I thought you would be safer if I stayed away. Then after, it would be safe to tell you everything. You weren't supposed to get caught up in this shit. I'm sorry."

"Fat lot of good sorry does now..." Yang grumbled.

"Yang..."

"I can't believe I didn't see it!" Yang vented, "It's was all there! Your 'wealth'! The speeding! The way people treat you! Even Cardin… God damn it, Cardin tried to warn me and I blew it off!"

"To be fair, even when Cardin _is_ right, he's still a dick about it..." Ember commented.

"Why me?" Yang asked.

"I told you, you weren't even supposed to-"

"Not _that_ ," the blonde cut Ember off. "I mean, why make friends with me? What exactly was your motive for tricking me into hanging out with the goddamned _mafia_!?"

Ember was silent as she processed her response. "We never talked about our childhoods, either of us."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Yang questioned.

"Yang, when I was young, my mom… I mean..." Ember shook her head, "The _only_ reason I didn't say anything before now is because I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I… I think you might be my… my si-"

A noise at the door cut Ember off. Yang spun her head to face her companion. "Might be your what?" she asked, determined not to let the statement hang.

"Sh!" Ember shushed her as the door opened. Adam stepped back into the room.

"Well, well," Adam looked between the two, "and what might you be discussing?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Ember stared him down.

"I'll be the judge of that," Adam claimed, laying out various 'questioning instruments'. "Now then… where did we leave off?"


	15. In the Animal's Den

"Now then… where did we leave off?" Adam smiled darkly under his mask.

"I believe you were asking me questions that I couldn't answer, even if I wanted to?" Ember quipped.

A gun was suddenly thrust at her, the barrel coming to rest between her eyebrows. Ember recognized the gun as Crescent Rose itself, and glared defiantly at it's bull masked holder. "Even _you_ gotta know it's a bad idea to kill me. My mother won't hesitate to burn Vale to the ground to take her revenge. You will _not_ survive."

"You say that as if I should be scared of your mother," Adam goaded.

"So _that's_ the level of stupidity we're working with," Ember sighed, "you're entire war is based on how she's changed for my sake. You believe that, but not that killing me will set her off?"

Adam, realizing his intimidation failed, pulled the pistol back and set it on the table. "At any rate, a corpse can't answer questions."

Ember rolled her eyes. _Moron_.

"How do we get to your mother?" Adam asked calmly.

"You seriously think I know some grand secret that can turn the tide?" Ember suppressed her laughter, "What are you expecting, a secret entrance to a private underground bunker? Some back alley deal where she'll be without bodyguards?"

"You must know something. I doubt you're unobservant," Adam theorized, picking up a pair of pliers from the table.

Ember seemed to remain calm, her eyes doing nothing to betray her anxiety while looking at the tool in Adam's hand. "You're wasting your time."

"That's some nice jewelry you have," Adam gestured to Ember's piercings. It didn't take a genius to understand his intentions. He grabbed Ember's face to keep her still and gripped one of her brow piercings with the pliers.

Yang screwed her eyes shut, but she could still hear Ember yelling over the sound of rending flesh. The blonde winced at the sound.

"Fuck!" Ember cursed, blood dripping into her left eye.

Yang assumed Adam would ask a question before hurting Ember again. She dared to open her eyes just in time to see the man tear the stud out of the Fall daughter's nose. "Jesus!" Yang quickly looked away.

"Your friend doesn't seem to have the stomach for this," Adam noted, dropping the bloody silver on the floor.

"She is none of your concern," Ember spat.

"Is that so?" Adam mused casually, bringing the pliers toward the top of Ember's ear. Yang flinched at yet another sound of Ember shouting over torn flesh. "This can all stop once you talk."

"Aeerrrghh _I don't know anything!_ " Ember shouted.

"You expect me to believe that?" Adam laughed, "She's your mother!"

"Yes, she is," Ember breathed slowly. "Not my boss. Not my ally. My mother. And 'love' is so much more powerful than 'fear'. Though I suppose you wouldn't know anything about that..." Ember's eyes darted momentarily to the door, where the cat masked girl was peeking through the gap. "So tear them all out," she resumed at Adam with a steady and confident voice, "Break my bones. Cut my throat. Hurt me all you want, I will _never_ betray my family."

Adam set the pliers down and spent a moment thinking to himself. He picked up a knife and turned back to face Ember. "Not even to save your friend?"

The room was silent. Yang stared with wide-eyed fear. Ember's scar began to ache. "She. Has. _Nothing_. To do. With any of this." the Fall daughter enunciated clearly.

Adam seemed to ignore her as he walked up to the blonde. "No.. No!" Yang cried.

"I don't know anything!" Ember shouted.

"I don't believe you," Adam grabbed Yang's hair and roughly yanked her head backward, "so until you tell me something I _can_ believe..." he brought up the blade.

"She is an innocent civilian, Adam!" Ember implored, "Leave her alone!"

Adam ignored her, burying the blade in Yang's shoulder. Yang screamed.

Seeing the blade in Yang's shoulder aggravated Ember's rage. "Leave her alone or I _swear_ you will live to regret this!" she growled.

"It's getting a bit loud in here, isn't it?" Adam asked Yang mockingly. He left the knife where it was and grabbed Yang's chair to drag her out of the room. "Let's go somewhere a bit quieter."

"Anything you do to her, Adam, I will pay you back _five_ _times over_!" Ember promised after Adam as he and Yang left the cell.

"You should think about what you have to say upon my return," Adam goaded over his shoulder before slamming the cell door.

The sound of the door closing seemed deafening to Ember's ears. She was alone with her thoughts, and all of those thoughts led to one conclusion. Her scar began to throb when it had only ever ached before. Pain disappeared as her focus became razor-sharp. Her breathing calmed and her tensions relaxed. She had been angry before, but pissed didn't do justice to what she felt now. Her entire being became dedicated to four words.

_Save Yang. Kill Adam._

* * *

When Blake Belladonna first moved to Vale, she was alone. Mistakes in her previous hometown made her unemployable, and she was quickly running out of what little money she brought with her. After being evicted from her apartment, she wandered into The Maiden's Fire. She figured if she was going to starve anyway, she might as well do it drunk. It was there that she met Adam Taurus.

Adam was the answer to Blake's prayers, at first. They hit it off over drinks, and when Blake finally brought up her situation, he offered to help right away. Adam told her he ran an illegal casino, and that he needed a new card dealer. She was hesitant about doing anything illegal, but she was also desperate. It was about a week after she started working that she brought up her apartment search, and he offered his couch. Again she was hesitant, but desperate.

But it seemed he didn't expect anything from her in return. No creepy advances or awkward suggestions. He was simply helpful, and it was _her_ who eventually asked _him_ out. Adam seemed caring and respectful, and he had given her a job and a home. And she loved him for it.

But as Blake watched Adam drag Yang out of the cell, with Ember screaming bloody promises at his back, she had to wonder just when Adam changed. She couldn't pinpoint a single moment where he flipped like a switch. More like he had grown colder over the years, day by day. Or perhaps he was always this way, and Blake just never saw it? A mask that slipped away slowly?

Whatever case, Blake knew the man she saw was not the one she fell in love with. She also knew that the path Adam was leading them down could only lead to all of their deaths. _But I may be able to save myself…_ Blake looked down at the key in her hand, nodded to herself, and stepped into the cell.

She was greeted by the sight of Ember looking her dead in the eyes. By the girl's posture and position, the Fall daughter almost seemed relaxed, no different than a night in front of the TV. But her eyes shined with a cold fire that frightened Blake to the bone and made her question which Fall she should really be afraid of.

Blake finally unfroze herself and removed her mask to look Ember in the eye. "You… you asked about my doubts?"

Ember didn't answer, only stared.

"Listen, I can free you," Blake approached slowly with the key held out. "I can even tell you how to get out."

Ember watched Blake unlock the cuff. "I'm sorry about your friend. I wish I could do more, but- Ahh!"

The moment Ember's hand was free, she grabbed Blake's hand and yanked the girl into headbutting range. A startled Blake stumbled in place, allowing Ember to follow up with a full-bodied punch that knocked Blake to the ground. While Blake tried to regain her senses, she heard the second lock click open on the chair. _She grabbed the key in all that?_

Blake finally managed to stumble to her feet. She could feel her eye swelling as well as blood seeping from a split in her brow. "At least if Adam asks, that's evidence you broke out..."

_Click_

The sound of a gun's hammer pulling back made Blake turn slowly to face Ember leveling the black pistol Adam had taken from her at Blake's head."H-hold on… I just freed you?"

"So you can tell Adam I 'escaped'?" Ember shook her head.

"I'll wait in here until you leave! I promise! I just… I want to survive!" Blake pleaded.

If anything, Ember's face only set harder. "If you straddle that fence any harder, Belladonna, you'll get splinters in uncomfortable places. You're already in the middle of this, you don't get the luxury of being passive. It's time to pick a side."

"I… I just want to survive..." Blake begged.

"Fine," Ember's straight face betrayed no emotion, "so where's Yang?"

"...I don't know," Blake reluctantly admitted.

"Not helping your case here," Ember replied calmly.

"I didn't watch where Adam took her, okay!?" Blake desperately explained, "I stuck back so I could free you! I swear!"

Ember finally dropped her aim and made to leave the room. She stopped at the door, cocking her head toward Blake. "I'm going after Adam. Someone is dying today. Pick a side. Soon." the Fall daughter warned.

Ember finally left. Blake felt like she could breathe again. She inhaled deeply, shakily seating herself in the chair Ember was bound to. "What am I doing..." she whispered to herself. "What am I going to do…?"

* * *

Once Ember had left the cell, Blake was practically forgotten. There was no room in her mind for the indecisive woman. Her calm rage drove her focus. _Save Yang. Kill Adam._ She brought Crescent Rose up to firing position and checked her ammo. _There were two others with Adam, that I saw at least,_ she deduced, thinking back to the swap that was only mere hours ago now. Mentally prepared, she pushed forward.

Ember turned the corner and came face-to-face with one of Adam's remaining cronies. A gray haired girl carrying her spider mask in one hand. "What the fuck!?" spider-girl cried in surprise. Ember wasted no words. She brought her gun up with zero hesitation, intent on eliminating the problem quickly. Spider-girl desperately swung her silver-faced mask.

Ember may have blocked the pain, but the fact was her right arm still had a bullet wound. Her hand was weak, and when spider-girl struck Crescent Rose with her mask, it was knocked cleanly from Ember's imperfect grip. Emboldened, spider-girl took aim for the Fall daughter's face and swung her mask back the other way. Ember wasn't hurt so much as she lost her balance, catching herself in time to fall to one knee.

"What are _you_ doing walking around?" spider-girl asked, making to pick up the black pistol.

Ember, thinking fast, charged from her lowered position. She wrapped her arms around spider-girl's middle. Ember tackled her foe through a nearby doorway and into a larger room full of rusted machinery and metal scrap. The Fall daughter straddled her opponent and closed her hands tightly around spider-girl's throat.

Spider-girl struggled feebly against her younger assailant. Even attacking Ember's weakened right arm didn't do anything as the Fall daughter's still-strong left arm was the one closing her airway. She desperately punched and kneed the younger Fall, each blow weaker than the last as her oxygen ran thin.

When her arm finally fell limp, she felt her knuckles brush against a cold steel cylinder. With one last burst of willpower, spider-girl took the fallen pipe in hand and swung for Ember's head. The Fall daughter fell aside as breath soothed the spider's burning lungs. Both women slowly found their way back to their feet.

"You… bitch..." spider-girl managed to push out between deep inhales and heavy coughing.

Ember didn't respond with words, instead opting to silently throw her left fist. Her more experienced opponent easily knocked the attack aside and followed with her own swing. The spider's fist connected and sent Ember down. Ember caught herself on a metal roller conveyor belt. Spider-girl approached from behind, grabbed Ember by the hair, and slammed the Fall daughter's head into the conveyor to disorient her.

As Ember was lifted fully onto the rollers, she could vaguely pick out spoken words through the fog in her head. "Boss man might be pissed, but fuck 'im. Your people killed my partner, and _you_ nearly killed me."

Ember's vision refocused in time to see her enemy pull a knife from the back of their belt.

"I'm going to enjoy this. Boss man will just have to deal."

The blade plunged. In a panic, Ember kicked out with her right foot, connecting with her foe's chest. The spider was sent to the ground while the force sent Ember back along the rollers, falling to the ground herself on the opposite side.

"Fuck!" Spider coughed as she found her feet once again. She did a quick scan for her knife, barely noticing a still living Ember through the support legs for the conveyor in the process. "All this abuse to my lungs have actually inspired me to quit smoking," the woman teased, "because after today I will _happily_ consider every clean breath I take as another wad of spit on your grave."

Ember could hear her enemy getting closer. Ember was also well aware of where the woman's knife was, buried in her right thigh. Ember didn't know if the knife's owner was aware of it's location, but that didn't change the fact that she had a weapon now. _If I can pull it out, that is._

"I know where you are," the spider continued to goad.

Ember gripped the handle and took a deep breath. Like ripping a band-aid off, she put her strength into ripping the entire blade out in one good yank. With gritted teeth and hushed groans she managed to avoid screaming. She thanked her mother's unclear 'Fate' that the blade was smooth edged with a flat back. Any serrations and she would have been significantly worse off.

"You might as well give up," the spider carried on unaware, ready to turn the last corner. "I'm not going to let myself lose to a child."

The second the spider-girl's legs came into her view, Ember struck. Staying on the ground, she brought the knife behind her opponent's ankle and severed the tendon there. Ember followed up with no pause, pushing off the ground and thrusting the blade hilt-deep into the spider's gut, pushing the girl back for good measure. The girl attempted to keep herself upright by leaning against the wall, but one last solid punch from Ember grounded her for good.

The spider-girl barely managed to sit up against the wall. She looked up to see, to her surprise, Ember limping away. "What? All this, and you're too squeamish to finish me off? Huh!?" Ember stopped by the doorway to the room. The Fall daughter kneeled down for a moment, standing back up with something in her hand. That was the moment the spider-girl remembered the black pistol.

Ember limped her way back, stopping short of the defeated woman to raise Crescent Rose to her head. "Where. Is. Yang."

"Who?" The woman asked.

Ember rolled her eyes and lowered her pistol-

_BANG_

-to shoot the woman in the knee.

"FUCK!"

"Adam Taurus. The man in the bull mask. Your boss," Ember enunciated deliberately, "dragged away a blonde girl. Where are they?"

_BANG_

The Fall daughter punctuated her question by shooting out the girl's remaining kneecap.

"GOD DAMN IT!" the spider screamed, "Fuck…! T-the other side… of the second floor catwalk… there's an old m-manager's office..."

"Thank you."

_BANG_

* * *

Blake was still lost on what her next step would be until she heard the gunfire. Panic quickly set in as she made a simple realization. If Ember died, so would she. Her mother would stop at nothing to achieve vengeance. _And I let her go out there alone._

"Shit," Blake stood and quickly checked under her jacket where her Uzi was strapped. She strode toward the door, gun in hand, pausing with her other hand on the door handle. "Am I really doing this?" she asked herself.

_You don't get the luxury of being passive. It's time to pick a side._

_No turning back_ , Blake pushed through the door and made for the direction she had heard the shots. As she turned the corner, she spared a brief glance into a nearby room. A body against the far wall made her double-take.

"Is that..?" Blake approached the body of the silver-haired new girl. She was certain what the three shots she heard were now. One in each kneecap, and a final shot between her eyes. "I never even knew her name..." Blake realized solemnly.

More gunfire caught Blake's attention. After one last grieving thought to the corpse beneath her Blake ran towards the sound of the conflict. It brought her to the catwalks suspended above the main warehouse floor. Ember was in cover behind a heavy desk on a far landing, being shot at from a walkway closer to Blake by Adam's remaining associate, Ilia. Ember had been taken by surprise and was now pinned down by Ilia's shots.

Blake quickly approached Ilia's walkway and put her sights on the girl. "Ilia, stop!"

Ilia ceased fire and looked to Blake with the corner of her eye. She had yet to drop her aim. "Blake? What the fuck are you doing?"

"I don't want you to die, so please drop the gun," Blake pleaded.

"Oh, I fucking knew it," Ilia glared, "I warned Adam you didn't have the guts to follow through."

"I said drop the gun!" Blake ordered.

Ilia slowly lowered her pistol to the catwalk floor and raised her hands. A step Blake's way was missed by the Uzi wielder. "How long have you been Cinder's? What have they promised you?"

"They haven't promised me anything Ilia, I just want to live through this," Blake explained.

"So you _betray_ us?" Ilia accused, taking one more unnoticed step."Adam _will_ win Blake. We just have to trust him."

"Stop parroting his words!" Blake insisted. "Look around and think for yourself for once! Cinder's people are searching the district, getting closer and closer to this place. Everyone that's worked with him so far has died, save for us two. And Adam is desperately torturing a _child_ for way out of this. This in _not_ what winning looks like."

Ilia appeared to be in conflict at Blake's words. It wasn't sincere, and Blake finally noticed Ilia's next step closer to her. "Stay back! I don't want to kill you Ilia!"

Ilia dropped the act and chuckled. "See? That's why Adam will win, Blake. Cinder is weak, the people who work for her are _weak_. Just like you. You don't have the guts to pull that trigger."

Ilia rushed. Blake's trigger finger was slow. Her Uzi was quickly knocked out of her hand, over the railing and onto the floor below. Ilia grappled Blake and pushed her against the railing. They struggled, Ilia trying to choke Blake or toss her off the platform, Blake just trying to keep Ilia at bay.

Across the catwalks, Ember realized Ilia's back was exposed to her. She laid her arms across the desk to steady her aim. Blake had chosen her side, and Ember wasn't about to let an ally go to waste.

_BANG_

Ember's round hit Ilia's shoulder. The impact jolted Ilia forward over the railing. She grabbed onto the first thing her hands found to try and stop it. The only result was Ilia pulling Blake over the railing as well. They tumbled the short distance and Ilia hit the ground hard. Blake landed on top of Ilia, limply rolling off her.

Blake breathed slowly. She was dazed, but thankfully she didn't feel anything obviously broken. _Landing on something soft probably helped_ , she chucked grimly before feeling slightly guilty for the dark joke. _Speaking of…_ Blake looked over to her former ally, noticing two things. One, Ilia's leg was broken, her fibula gruesomely sticking out of her flesh. Two, Ilia wasn't letting that stop her from dragging herself towards Blake's fallen Uzi.

Using the power of undamaged legs, Blake jumped forward and beat Ilia to the gun. The loyalist's hand fell an inch from where the gun used to be, the woman laughing as Blake stood above her. "It's over, Ilia."

"Kill me then," Ilia responded. "If you don't, one of Cinder's other slaves will. Claim your kill, traitor."

Blake agreed that Ilia's fate was sealed. Death would be the only punishment for attempting to kill the daughter of Cinder Fall. Blake slowly aimed her Uzi at Ilia's head, and with a single bullet she pledged herself fully to Cinder's side.

 _One more to go_. Blake looked up to Ember, meeting the Fall daughter's eyes. Ember gestured to the managers office. Blake nodded and turned for the nearest stairway up.

* * *

Adam was hardly deaf to the chaos going on in his hideout. He had crouched behind the bound blonde, keeping a gun to the head of his new human shield. The preparation paid off as Ember was the one who walked through the office door.

"Let her go," Ember demanded, raising her pistol.

"I don't think so," Adam smirked, "why don't you lower your gun first?"

"Whatever you do, you will not survive," Ember pointed out.

"Then why not take her with me?" Adam argued, "if for no other reason than to spite you?"

"They're more useful alive," Blake stepped into the office, aiming her Uzi at the back of Ember's head. "They're our ticket out, right Adam?"

"Blake?" Adam asked, surprised.

"You always told me to trust you," Blake reminded him, "Well, I'm trusting you. Ms. Fall, drop the gun."

Ember scowled, lowering her weapon slowly.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Adam laughed, standing up and stepping out from behind Yang. "Look at what a little loyalty does."

"Loyalty from fear is no loyalty at all," Ember teased.

Adam laughed again, finally dropping his aim from Yang's head in the process. Blake took the window and quickly changed her target, firing at Adam. The rounds clipped the shoulder of Adam's gun arm, though Ember didn't know if that made him drop his gun or if he dropped it more out of surprise. Blake was about to fire again, but Ember raised her hand as a symbol to stop.

"I want him in that chair," Ember explained, gesturing to where Yang was bound, "I have a promise to keep." Blake nodded, striding to Adam and striking him with her weapon.

Ember took the key she had taken from Blake back in the cell and used it to free Yang. While she was at it, she gave Yang a visual once over. She did not like what she saw. Adam didn't have time to do a lot, but what he did do seemed more than enough to keep Yang mentally checked out. Enough to keep Ember's rage strong. Ember lifted the blonde out of the chair so Blake could force Adam inside it.

"By the way, it would be nice to discuss a plan like that before you put a gun to my head," Ember told Blake.

"It worked, though?" Blake argued hopefully while locking Adam's hands.

"It did, and I'm not complaining about the plan itself," Ember elaborated, "you're just lucky I figured out what you were doing quickly enough not to blow things."

Adam was secure, coming back to his senses after the pistol whipping and glaring at the girls. "When I get out of this..."

The Fall daughter shook her head and passed Yang off to Blake before pulling her gun back out once more to pistol-whip Adam into unconsciousness. With Adam effectively shut up, she gestured to Yang, "Get her to the hospital."

Blake took Yang over her shoulder, surprised. "You're trusting me with her?"

"I'm trusting you still don't want to die," Ember warned darkly, "give me your phone."

"I guess that's fair," Blake nodded. "What do you want with this?" she asked as she handed over the requested device.

"I'm giving you two numbers," Ember explained as she manipulated the phone, "The first is my mom's. Call her and report everything. Where this place is, Yang's condition, all about your role and your help here."

Blake took the phone back, nodding. "And the second?"

"Is mine," Ember answered, "once the doctors examine her, I want a copy of the report." She passed her hand over the various instruments Adam had brought with him on a nearby table. Her voice became steady and low, almost growling. "I want to know everything he did to her."

Blake nodded, remembering the girl's earlier promises. She hauled Yang out of the warehouse to a nearby vehicle as quickly as possible. She was happy to have an excuse to be away from there, because she didn't think she had the stomach to watch Ember cleanse her anger on that man. _He brought it all down on himself._

* * *

Not even twenty minutes passed when Cinder arrived at the warehouse. She raced to the manager's office and was met by the sight of Adam bound to the chair, surrounded by those of her men who were already nearby when she got Blake's call. She looked to the side and saw Ember. It had all been less than twenty four hours, but to the Fall mother it felt like weeks. "Oh my god!" she rushed to embrace her daughter.

"I'm okay, mom," Ember assured, hugging her back.

"Are you serious?" Cinder asked, pulling away to look at the various rough patches of first aid, likely provided by the men who arrived before her. "You need a hospital!"

"And I'll go once I'm done," Ember promised.

"Done?" Cinder pulled back. She looked at Adam, awake with duct tape over his mouth, then back to Ember, noting the look in her eye. "What did he do?"

A massage came through on Ember's phone in that moment. "That's probably Yang's medical report."

Cinder understood. "Ember-"

"I'm not backing down," Ember cut off her mother.

Cinder ran through every argument she could think of, but they all fell flat from the look of sheer determinated rage in Ember's eyes. She had almost this same argument with her daughter enough times now to already know the outcome. "No, I don't imagine you will."

Ember opened up the file Blake texted her, looking over the report. The first thing she saw was two broken ribs.

"What's the plan?" Cinder asked.

Ember picked up a heavy crescent wrench one of the men found on the warehouse floor for her. "Five times over."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One left until this story is done! I'll see you all then! The last chapter might end up being a shorter 'epilogue' more so than a full chapter, and I am working hard to get it done soon.


	16. The Family of Ember Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This actually ended up being one of the longest chapters! Shows what I know about predicting how long my scenes will actually be.

Ember woke slowly to the sounds and smells of the hospital. She remembered working Adam over. She remember riding to the hospital with her mother. She even vaguely remembered beginning the examination. The only explanation for the gap between then and now was sleep. She stretched, taking note of all her new aches, pains, and bandages. She could also feel the stitches where her piercings had been ripped out. "How the hell did I make it through all of that without collapsing?"

"Raw emotion," the answer came from beside her. "I've seen you angry before," Cinder elaborated, "but yesterday, you even scared _me_."

Ember nodded. "Have you seen Yang?"

"I haven't," Cinder answered, "Between you and Emerald, I'm already here more than I should be. And I wouldn't know what to do with her."

"Right..."

Cinder walked over to her daughter and while mindful of injuries, hugged her tightly. "I am so sorry I let this situation happen."

"You did the best you could, mom," Ember assured, hugging her back. "Adam started this, and I knew what I was getting into when I asked to be a part of things."

"You still got hurt under my watch," Cinder self-scolded.

"And Yang got hurt under mine," Ember pointed out, "and we _both_ handled things the best we could."

"So," Cinder pulled away somewhat reluctantly, "I assume you still want to be 'a part of things'?"

"I do," Ember nodded, sitting up.

"Very well," Cinder took a deep breath, "Then certain things are going to change."

"So I get to finally ditch high school?" Ember asked hopefully.

"No."

"Seriously?"

"You still need decent grades to get into college," Cinder explained, "And you'll need college courses to learn how to run a business, if you're going to run The Maiden's Fire eventually."

"You're giving me Maiden's?" Ember asked.

"Not right now, obviously, and I'm not _giving_ you anything," Cinder clarified. "As much as I would love to train you personally and give you the world, there will be those who accuse you of being handed everything if I do. They'll never listen to you if you haven't quote unquote 'earned your place'."

"But you're still placing me at Maiden's?" Ember pointed out.

"Well, you _are_ still my daughter and I won't have you start as a common thug," Cinder crossed her arms. "And you _will_ earn your place, if for no other reason than you have to. It takes a lot of respect to be in my position, and you won't be able to ride on my name forever. You'll have to cultivate your own."

"I understand," Ember nodded, "thank you for the opportunity."

"Another change is that I'm placing someone to be your 'Emerald', so to speak," Cinder announced, "Simply having your own firearm has been enough until now, but if you plan to partake in criminal activity, you almost certainly will make criminal enemies. You'll need someone to be bodyguard and butler."

"I guess I understand that too," Ember groaned, not looking forward to her future 'big, bald shadow'. "Who have you picked?"

"That one may surprise you, and she still has a few skills and behaviors to learn before fully taking her new position," Cinder answered while sending off a text message to the person in question, "but she seemed a good fit to me. She has already helped and protected you, and is in desperate need for new purpose in Vale. Plus, it would be easier to place someone closer to your age in your school."

Ember gave a few empty blinks. "Wait..."

The door opened and none other than Blake Belladonna stepped into the room. "You summoned me ma'am?" she asked. She suddenly noticed Ember. "Oh, Embe- I mean," _ahem_ , "Ms. Fall. You're awake."

"Blake here is going to be your personal assistant and bodyguard," Cinder confirmed. "She is to take your orders and your orders alone."

"And yours?" Ember asked her mother.

"If I give her an order, her first duty is to inform you and give you the opportunity to agree to or counteract the command," Cinder explained. "You have already earned her respect, my own name need not apply. And you should get used to being in command, even if it's only of one person at this time."

Ember looked Blake over, trying to take measure of the woman. "Alright. Blake, would you fetch me a crutch?"

"Ember!" Cinder immediately scolded.

Blake suddenly felt trapped. She had to choose. Between Cinder Fall, the crime lord and basically queen of all Vale. Or Ember Fall, the woman she had been explicitly ordered to follow all orders and even die for if it became her duty. She took a deep breath and, thinking back on her extended conversation with Cinder the night before, decided to follow the one order Cinder ever gave her before her duties as Ember's 'personal assistant' were established. "I'll be right back, Ms. Fall," Blake bowed out of the room in search of a crutch.

Cinder frowned, but couldn't fault Blake for ultimately doing exactly what Cinder had told her to do. Instead, she had to plead with her daughter, "You need to keep resting."

"I need to talk to Yang," Ember countered. "It's long past time she knew the truth. She deserves to know."

Cinder sighed. "There, talk to her, then right back here to your own bedrest. Got it?"

"Yes, mother," Ember nodded. They still had to wait for Blake to return, so Ember broke the ensuing silence, "how's Emerald?"

"Walking around," Cinder answered with a smile, "she should avoid heavy duty for a while, but I'll be taking her home tonight."

"Oh, I bet you will," Ember smirked.

"Quiet You!" Cinder blushed. "Brat..."

"Seriously though, have you talked to her yet?" Ember asked.

"Not yet, but I will!" Cinder cut off her daughter before she could complain. "Tonight, even. Now that everything has calmed down and everyone is safe."

Blake reentered the room a moment later. "Ms. Fall," she offered out the crutch.

"Thank you, Blake," Ember nodded, taking the item and making her way to her feet. She spotted her wallet on the nightstand and took that too. There was a picture inside she would need.

"I also found out where Yang is, I assume that's where you're headed?" Blake asked, continuing at Ember's nod, "she's on this floor, just three rooms down."

"Ember, wait!" Cinder spoke hurriedly as though she just remembered something. "You should take this," she held out a folder.

Ember looked over the folder, reading the label quickly. _Yang Xiao Long_. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It finally came through just this morning," Cinder nodded. "I read a piece, not much. Only enough to know."

"And?" Ember asked cautiously.

Her mother's answer was a simple nod.

Ember expected to feel something. A sudden rush of emotion or understanding. Instead, she only felt like after all this time with Yang she already knew. "That's all I needed to hear," Ember pushed the folder down.

"Of course," Cinder understood, pulling the folder back.

Ember looked back to Blake, gesturing to the door. "Let's go."

Blake hesitated slightly before following, falling in step behind Ember. "I, um… don't know what all your mom told you, but I'm still kind of… in training, I guess?"

"She did say," Ember nodded, "but I'm sure right now she'd rather you stick with me. You can find time to finish your 'training' later."

"Yes Ma'am," Blake accepted.

They came to Yang's room where Ember stopped Blake just outside the door. "Could you actually stay out here for this? We are in a hospital and you can still keep watch through the viewing window."

"Of course," Blake nodded and took position.

Ember took a peek through the window herself, thankful to see Yang was already awake. She could feel her nerves rising in her heartbeat as she stepped through the door. Yang turned to see who entered her room. "Oh. It's you."

"Yeah," Ember responded awkwardly.

"I guess I should thank you for saving me?" Yang half-heartedly shrugged.

"You don't have to do that," Ember assured.

"Good," the blonde turned her head away and stared out the outside window.

Undeterred, Ember and her crutch hobbled over to a seat by Yang's bed and sat down.

"I tried telling the doctors I couldn't afford all this," Yang spoke up, "they told me not to worry. I guess I'm in debt to the mafia now?"

"No, Yang, I wouldn't do that to you," Ember answered.

"But you _do_ do that kind of thing," Yang accused, "Money-sharking? Dealing drugs? Or do you just stick to killing people?"

Ember winced at Yang's words. "We don't kill people who don't deserve it. Believe it or not, killing innocent civilians is not good business practice."

"So what about that man?" Yang pointed out, "Adam? What happened to him?"

"To spare you the gory details, he's dead," Ember answered.

"Gory details?" Yang questioned.

"Let's just say he wasn't quite dead yet when I left him," Ember elaborated, "but he didn't have much left."

Yang grimaced. The entire time she had yet to look away from the window.

"Yang, I promised you that I would tell you everything the next time I saw you," Ember explained, "and that's what I'm here to do."

"You seriously think telling me the truth _now_ will fix things?" Yang shook her head.

"No, I don't," Ember assured, "I don't expect us to ever talk again after today, but that doesn't change the fact you _deserve_ to know."

Yang remained silent and staring out the window. After several moments, she shrugged, "What is there even left to say?"

"Why I befriended you in the first place, getting you caught up in all this?" Ember retrieved her wallet, pulling out an old and worn photograph from within it. "I guess I should start with… the fact that Cinder is not my birth mother."

Old ideas that Yang had long since discounted flooded the front of the blonde's mind. Her gaze broke from the outside window to look at Ember once again. "Okay..."

"She found me abandoned in the forest up north, bleeding from my head," Ember pulled back her hair, revealing her oldest scar. "My first memory is waking up in the hospital. I didn't even know my name. I still don't, not the one I was born with anyway. Mom was there, introducing herself as my mother and naming me Ember."

"So… you have no idea where you came from?" Yang's theories were starting to fall apart once again.

"There were little clues..." Ember explained, "I had nightmares. A monster would chase me, and I would run to a golden figure that felt safe. The monster would come anyway, the figure wasn't strong enough to keep him away. I always remembered the figure felt sad, guilty maybe, for not being strong enough.

"And then this," Ember gestured with the photograph. "It was all I had on me when I was found. I came across it in my mom's room when I was… seven I think? The two people next to me in it, looking at them gives me the same feelings the shadows in my dream do. I talked to her about it and that's when I learned I was 'adopted'."

Yang stared silently at the back of the photograph.

"She thinks I was abused," Ember continued, "the nightmares were only more evidence. But the gold figure always stuck with me. _Someone_ loved me, in a life I don't remember." The Fall daughter took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "And then I ran into you. Blonde hair, violet eyes, from up north..."

Yang's eyes met Ember's for the first time since the younger girl entered the room. "Ember… am I in that picture…?"

"I wanted to be sure before I talked to you about it," Ember answered, "so I kept silent while mom had any records of you from Patch dug up. Not to learn _everything_ about you behind your back, just enough to _know_. Then Adam attacked my mom, and it got put on a backburner. As things got worse, I tried distancing myself to protect you. But it was too late. And you know the rest."

Ember grabbed the crutch and stood, photograph in hand. She passed it to Yang. "I should have just talked to you from the start. If you knew what I was, we could protected you better. _I_ put you in danger, and I'm sorry."

Yang took the picture and turned in over in her hand. Her breath froze at the sight of herself, her father, and her little sister. "Ruby..." Yang didn't notice Ember leaving her room until she heard the door opening. Her head snapped up, "Wait!"

"This doesn't change anything, Yang," Ember stated.

"Are you kidding!?" Yang argued, "This changes everything! You're… you're my sister." Yang sniffed, her first clue that she had started crying. "I-I thought you were dead..."

"I'm a criminal. Daughter to Vale's Crime Lord. And I still want to follow in my mom's footsteps. You hated me a few minutes ago because of that," Ember reminded her, "And that hasn't changed."

Ember left the room. Yang was left alone with the photograph and her own jumbled thoughts. Her eyes drifted back down to the picture. She remembered the day it was taken, one of the few days they felt like a proper family. "I always wondered where it disappeared to," Yang thought aloud. Her eyes lingered on her sister within the photograph.

 _My sister is alive. My sister is a criminal. My sister doesn't plan to stop being a criminal._ The blonde laid back, holding the photograph to her chest. _What am I going to do?_

* * *

That night Emerald climbed into Cinder's car. "Be careful," Cinder warned.

"That's the third time you've said that. I'm fine," Emerald smiled lightly, "are _you_ okay?"

"Am I not allowed to be concerned?" Cinder crossed her arms.

"I didn't say that!" Emerald immediately defended, "It's just… n-nevermind." She blushed fiercely. "Thank you for giving me a ride."

"No need to thank me," Cinder smiled.

The car ride back to the Fall Estate was pleasantly quiet. They pulled into the driveway and Cinder shut off the car. Emerald reached for the door handle, but quickly noticed Cinder was stark still. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

Cinder considered her options for a moment. "I was hoping you might join me for dinner?"

Emerald gave a small smile. "As you wish."

The house was dark and empty. Emerald had a guess as to why her boss wanted the company. It was strange to not see Ember on the couch watching TV, or hear her in her room cussing at a video game. "How much longer will be Ember be in the hospital?"

"Her individual injuries on their own weren't too severe, but together and combined with the blood loss," Cinder explained, "they did a small transfusion and want to keep her another night or two for observation."

"I'm so glad she's okay," Emerald sighed in relief.

Cinder looked briefly through the cabinets as well as the freezer. "I hope you don't mind something we can toss in the oven for twenty minutes. It's a bit late to do any real _cooking_."

"That's fine with me," Emerald smiled, "do you need help?"

"It's just a couple of frozen pizzas," Cinder chuckled, "I can handle it."

The pair passed the time with idle conversation, both surprised when the timer told them twenty minutes had passed already. Cinder once again turned downed Emerald's offer of aid and soon passed her a few slices on a plate. "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure," Cinder spoke honestly. "Tell me, would you be opposed to joining dinner more often?"

Emerald's brain stopped. _No, she isn't asking that… is she?_ "Isn't dinner your time with Ember?"

"Dinner is time with family," Cinder replied with a growing smirk.

Emerald didn't quite know what to think of that comment. "Ma'am…?"

Cinder rolled her eyes and stood up. "Drop the 'ma'am'," she strutted over to Emerald and leaned over her, placing her hands on the backrest on either side of Emerald's head.

"Cinder…?" Emerald didn't trust that this wasn't her imagination somehow.

"You want this?" Cinder's last doubt came out in a soft tone.

Emerald was having trouble breathing properly. "Do you…?"

Cinder smiled at the confirmation. "Why wouldn't I?"

"You're just so much more..." Emerald gulped, "Beautiful… and powerful… and confident… and I'm-"

Cinder pressed her finger against Emerald's lips. "And you're not?" she shook her head, "You do yourself a disservice. You are gorgeous and loyal. And really, would it surprise you to learn that I like my girls a little… submissive?"

Emerald could only whimper in response, her heart going a mile a minute.

"Are you going to kiss me, or do I have to make it an order?" Cinder smirked.

"...I love you," Emerald confessed.

"I love you too," Cinder returned, "now kiss me."

* * *

_ One Week Later _

"It's nice to finally have some help in the kitchen," Cinder mentioned off-handedly as she and Emerald prepared dinner for that night.

"Hey! I've offered to help!" Ember argued from her spot at the table.

"Oh, don't worry little flame," Cinder chuckled, "I'll let you help. I was thinking about burning this place down for insurance money anyway."

"I'm not _that_ bad!" Ember crossed her arms.

"She _can_ bake a mean cookie, Cin," Emerald defended the daughter Fall.

"Maybe we can make some of those tonight?" Cinder pondered, "Between the hospital, getting Blake into your school, and fixing up the mess Adam left us, we haven't yet celebrated us making it out the other side safe and alive."

"Seriously!?" Ember smiled widely

"I don't think we have the ingredients here," Emerald pointed out.

"Blake!" Ember called out to the new bodyguard, who was reading on the couch in the living room, "We're going shopping!"

"Yes, Ms. Fall," Blake bookmarked her page and followed her boss out the door.

After a moment of silence, Emerald spoke up, "So, we've bought a few minutes alone."

"Is my master plan so easily deduced?" Cinder smirked, setting down her current cookware to sweep her new lover into her arms.

Outside in the car, Blake brought it up to Ember, "Emerald and your mom are almost acting like high schoolers."

"Wha'dya mean?" Ember asked.

"They got us out of the house so they could make out, ma'am," Blake explained bluntly.

Ember froze and shuddered a little. "Gross. I mean, they're happy, and that's good, but… gross."

* * *

Ember's car pulled back into the driveway barely twenty minutes later. Ember and Blake stepped out of the vehicle with a bag each. "They better have their pants on when we go inside," Ember thought aloud.

"Do you hear that?" Blake stopped them.

Somewhere ahead, a voice that sounded like of of the home's perimeter guards could be heard, "I'm supposed to believe that?"

"It's the truth!" another familiar voice argued, "don't you have a radio or something? It would take two seconds to ask them!"

"I'm not going to disturb Ms. Fall _or_ her daughter during dinner," the guard responded, "especially not to ask about a sister I _know_ doesn't exist."

"Sister?" Blake asked.

Ember was already around the corner, confirming her suspicion. "Yang?"

The blonde turned away from the guard she was arguing with at the voice of the goth girl. "Ember! I, um… I was just wanting to talk to you."

"Why?" Ember asked, "I thought you hated everything I'm about."

"I never said I hated anything, that was your word," Yang pointed out. "Was I angry? Yes. But I wasn't angry that you were a criminal. I'm not happy about it, but that's not why I was angry. I was angry because you've been lying to me since day one."

"I didn't mean for it to go on for so long," Ember apologized, "I had a plan that included telling you the truth. If Adam never started his war, everything would have been a lot smoother."

Yang sighed, "I still think you never should have lied at all."

"You're right," Ember agreed, "I was just afraid of scaring you away."

Yang nodded, understanding.

"Is that all you wanted to say?" Ember asked as the silence stretched.

"No..." Yang answered, "I actually wasn't planning on bringing that up at all…"

Another silence stretched. "Okay…?" Ember bade Yang to continue.

The blonde breathed deeply. "I… don't remember having a proper family. But I do remember loving you. You were my baby sister! And technically, you still are. I know you're not going to give up the criminal stuff, but maybe… maybe I can get used to it."

"Yang..."

"I thought you were dead for twelve years," Yang continued, "now that I know you're not… I don't want to give up this chance."

"Yang..." Ember shook her head, "I don't think that's a good idea."

Yang was taken aback by the response. "Oh… I… after the effort you went through… I thought you would want this..."

"I do, but… You've seen first hand how dangerous it can be," Ember explained, "you'll probably be safer if we stay strangers. Forget about me and live your best life."

"Yeah, it's probably safer. But so what?" Yang steeled her gaze, "you don't remember when we were kids together, but I do. I can't just forget that you're my sister, even if I wanted to. And I _don't_ want to."

Yang suddenly stepped in and pulled Ember into a deep hug. Ember was too stunned to immediately push the blonde off.

"I missed you every day," Yang confessed, "I missed having family. I know I might not like everything I see, but I want to get to know _my sister_."

Ember slowly conceded, eventually wrapping her arms around Yang. "Are you sure? I don't want you to just ignore everything you hate because you feel obliged to 'get to know me'. No obligation exists."

"Don't care, I'm not letting this pass me by," Yang confirmed.

Ember smiled. She would be lying if she said this wasn't exactly what she wanted, so she finally gave in. "So, um… do you want to come inside?"

Yang pulled back, hope in her teary eyes, "really?"

"Yeah," Ember nodded, "We're about to have dinner. There's always leftovers, so there should be enough for you to have a plate as well."

Yang smiled. "Thank you."

"Yeah, well," Ember rubbed the back of her head, "if any part of my life was a result of good decisions, I wouldn't be an amnesiac crime lord in waiting, would I? Why break the mold now?"

Thankfully, Yang laughed at the poor joke. Ember led her sister up the drive, followed closely by a Blake still trying to process everything she learned. They entered the kitchen to the sight of a slightly winded-looking Emerald and Cinder that actually managed to stop kissing and start cooking shortly before Ember returned. "Everything go well at the store, little flame?" Cinder asked without looking up.

"Yeah," Ember nodded, casting an eye back to Yang. "Do you think there will be enough for an extra plate?"

"Most likely, but are you really _that_ hungry?" Cinder looked up and saw Yang. "Oh. Hello."

"Hello, Ms. Fall..." Yang spoke timidly.

"Please, Cinder," the Fall mother smiled, "so, you're staying for dinner?"

"If I may," Yang asked politely.

"Of course!" Cinder smiled.

Blake took her own dinner elsewhere, as she wasn't really part of the 'family'. When the plates were finally passed around, it was Emerald, Cinder, Ember and Yang sitting together for the meal.

The meal was unsettlingly quiet until Cinder took it upon herself to address the elephant in the room, "Are you two embracing your sisterhood?"

Ember still had a fork halfway in her mouth when she sputtered. Yang answered instead, "I think so. I hope so."

"Even knowing what we are?" Cinder asked.

"I won't lie, it does make me uncomfortable," Yang confessed, "but how often does someone's sister come back from the dead? I want to at least try a sistership with Ember."

"We'll try to make sure you don't get caught up in our 'business' in the future," Cinder promised.

"It should be easier now that you know," Ember pointed out.

"Right," Yang nodded, "Thank you."

Silence fell again. "I guess none of us really know what to talk about," Yang tried to make light of the fact.

"Actually, I was thinking," Ember cut in, "You said I don't remember what it was like when we were kids together. So, what was it like?"

Yang set down her fork, wondering where to start. "Well… I'd like to say we were happy, but I think everyone here knows that not true."

Everyone stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue.

Yang picked up on it quickly, "Dad wasn't a bad person, deep in his heart. The problem was he wasn't a nice drunk. And after your mom died, few days passed when he wasn't drunk."

" _My_ mom?" Ember asked.

"Yeah," Yang nodded, "you and I have different moms. Mine ran off before I could remember her, and yours, Summer, she died... in childbirth."

"You mean she died having me," Ember deduced.

"Dad blamed you, or at least 'Drunk Dad' did," Yang continued, "and then he'd…. take out his frustrations..."

"You don't have to describe that," Ember sensed the emotions in her sister.

Yang nodded in appreciation.

"I look like Summer, don't I?" Ember pointed out.

"Yeah," Yang confirmed, "How'd you know?"

"You called me Summer when we met in Beacon's hall," Ember recalled.

"I did?" Yang didn't remember.

"What do you remember about her?" Ember asked next.

Yang thought for a moment. "I was only two when she died, so I don't remember much about then. I do remember being happy. Dad was happy, Summer was happy, _I_ was happy. We only got happier when Summer learned she was pregnant." Yang chuckled as she parsed her vague memories, "I do remember they would argue over names almost every night, but a good kind of arguing, if that makes sense. 'Bout the only nice thing Dad ever did for you was give you the name Summer wanted for you."

Ember's and Cinder's gazes met, both sharing the same thought. "I can't believe I didn't think of that until now..."

"What?" Yang asked.

"You know my name… the name I was born with..." Ember realized. "What is it?"

Yang looked her sister in the eye with a soft smile. "Ruby. Your name is Ruby Rose."

"Not Xiao Long?" Cinder spoke up.

"Summer never took dad's name," Yang explained, "So Ruby is a Rose."

"Ruby Rose..." Ember mulled the name over in her head, "sounds… kinda weird."

"This raises a question," Cinder pointed out, "now that you know, what name will you go by?"

Ember thought on this for a surprising amount of time. "Everyone knows me as Ember Fall. If I tried to tell the whole city I changed my name, it would only cause confusion, and some would never use it anyway… I guess legally, I'll stay Ember Fall. But..." Ember smiled back at Yang, "I suppose if _you_ want to call me Ruby, I wouldn't stop you."

Yang's smile grew larger. "Thank you. Ruby."

"It's certainly a nice compromise," Cinder commented with a smirk, "Call me selfish, but I still prefer the name _I_ gave you."

The little joke succeeded in lightening the mood, and everyone chuckled at her delivery.

"I have a question, if I may?" Emerald asked Cinder, "Now that she's part of the family, is she moving in?"

"Oh, I'm sure whatever hole that school dug up for you is horrid,"Cinder spoke toward Yang, "not to mention living here would be free-of-charge."

"Wait, seriously?" Yang questioned.

"You may not be my daughter, and I would never ask you to think of me as your mother," Cinder explained, "but Ember _is_ my daughter, and you are her sister. That makes you family, and what's the point of everything I do if I can't at least help family?"

"And we have the perfect thing to celebrate!" Ember remembered, "cookies!"

"I better clear the kitchen," Emerald stated.

"I'll gather ingredients for you to start," Cinder announced.

Ember turned to Yang, smiling, "I'm good at cookies. You wanna help, sis?"

"Of course!" Yang smiled back, "I'm no slouch at cookies myself. Sis."

As the four began baking together, Ember had an epiphany. Cinder Fall, Yang Xiao Long, Emerald Sustrai, even Blake Belladonna at a stretch. A family of misfits and crooks, but no less real than any other. They were _her_ family, and she honestly wouldn't have them any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reached the end! I hope you all enjoyed it! I think this is the first full story (not counting the 'one bad' oneshots) that I've finished in a long time. It feels good.
> 
> I don't know what my next project will be or when, but I hope it doesn't take me too long and I hope I see you all soon!
> 
> \- Vengfulfate


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